Juvenile Hormone Involved in the Defensive Behaviors of Soldiers in Termite Reticulitermes aculabialis.

ABSTRACT: Eusocial insects have evolved specific defensive strategies to protect their colonies. In termite colonies, soldiers perform a colony-level defense by displaying mechanical biting, head-banging and mandible opening-closing behaviors. However, few studies have been reported on the factors modulating defensive behaviors in termites. Owing to JH (juvenile hormone) being involved in soldier differentiation, JH was speculated to affect defensive behaviors in termite soldiers. To determine the effect of JH on the defensive behaviors of termite soldiers, we performed a JHA-feeding and RaSsp1-silencing experiment and then tested the changes in defense-related behaviors, alarm pheromones and key JH signaling genes. The observed result was that after feeding workers with JHA, soldiers display

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10889337 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature