Foraging Macrotermes natalensis fungus-growing termites avoid a mycopathogen but not an entomopathogen

TY - JOUR

T1 - Foraging Macrotermes natalensis fungus-growing termites avoid a mycopathogen but not an entomopathogen

AU - Bodawatta, Kasun H.

AU - Poulsen, Michael

AU - Bos, Nick

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Fungus-growing termites have to defend both themselves and their monoculture fungal cultivars from antagonistic microbes. One of the ways that pathogens can enter the termite colony is on the plant substrate that is collected by termite foragers. In order to understand whether foragers avoid substrate infected with antagonists, we offered sub-colonies of Macrotermes natalensis a choice between food exposed to either a mycopathogenic or an entomopathogenic fungus, and control food. Workers did not show any preference between entomopathogen-exposed and control substrate, but significantly avoided the mycopathogen-exposed substrate. This suggests that the behaviour of foraging workers is more strongly influenced by pathogens affecting their crop than those posing risks to the termite workers themselves.

AB - Fungus-growing termites have to defend both themselves and their monoculture fungal cultivars from antagonistic microbes. One of the ways that pathogens can enter the termite colony is on the plant substrate that is collected by termite foragers. In order to understand whether foragers avoid substrate infected with antagonists, we offered sub-colonies of Macrotermes natalensis a choice between food exposed to either a mycopathogenic or an entomopathogenic fungus, and control food. Workers did not show any preference between entomopathogen-exposed and control substrate, but significantly avoided the mycopathogen-exposed substrate. This suggests that the behaviour of foraging workers is more strongly influenced by pathogens affecting their crop than those posing risks to the termite workers themselves.

KW - Beauveria

KW - Defence

KW - Social immunity

KW - Termitomyces

KW - Trichoderma

U2 - 10.3390/insects10070185

DO - 10.3390/insects10070185

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31247889

AN - SCOPUS:85069716966

SN - 2075-4450

VL - 10

JO - Insects

JF - Insects

IS - 7

M1 - 185

ER -