The interspecific compatibility of Odontotermes f ormosanus with two other rermite species.
Author of the article:CHEN Yan* , MENG Zi-Ye, HUANG Qiu-Ying, LEI Chao-Liang**
Author's Workplace： Institute of Insect Resources , Huazhong Agricultural University , Wuhan 430070, China
Key Words：Odontotermes formosanus, Coptotermes formosanus, Reticulitermes chinensis, interspecific compatibility
Abstract：
The compatibility of Odontotermes f ormosanus (Shiraki ) with the formosan subterranean termite Cop totermes formosanus (Shiraki) and another subterranean termite Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder was investigated. Two different termite species were placed in the same culture dish in certain proportion, and their combat was observed. The results indicated that the workers and soliders of both species showed furious aggressiveness immediately. About 40 combats less than 5 minutes were found at the beginning of the combat in all experiments with different proportions, whereas the number of the combats less than 5 minutes decreased sharply, nearly no combat. The species of termite, which was dominant in quantity, showed obvious superiority in combat. When they are equal in quantity, O. formosanus workers were much more aggressive than C. formosanus and R. chinenesis . These results indicated that the occasional mergence of the O. formosanu with C. formosanus and R . chinenesis was impossible in nature, and O. formosanu might hold superiority in the areas where they established their colonies.