Male neotenic reproductives accelerate additional differentiation of female reproductives by lowering JH titer in termites.

ABSTRACT: Eusocial insects exhibit reproductive division of labor, in which only a fraction of colony members differentiate into reproductives. In termites, reproductives of both sexes are present in a colony and constantly engaged in reproduction. It has been suggested that the sex ratio of reproductives is maintained by social interactions. The presence of reproductives is known to inhibit the additional differentiation of same-sex reproductives, while it promotes the differentiation of opposite-sex reproductives. In this study, using the damp-wood termite Hodotermopsis sjostedti, physiological effects of male/female reproductives on the differentiation of supplementary reproductives (neotenics) were examined. The results showed that the only male-neotenic condition, i.e., the presence of male neo

SUBMITTER: Oguchi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7286905 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature