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. 2020 Jun 2;10(13):6775-6784.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.6381. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Modern termites inherited the potential of collective construction from their common ancestor

Nobuaki Mizumoto  1   2 , Thomas Bourguignon  2   3
Affiliations

Modern termites inherited the potential of collective construction from their common ancestor

Nobuaki Mizumoto et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

Animal collective behaviors give rise to various spatial patterns, such as the nests of social insects. These structures are built by individuals following a simple set of rules, slightly varying within and among species, to produce a large diversity of shapes. However, little is known about the origin and evolution of the behavioral mechanisms regulating nest structures. In this study, we discuss the perspective of inferring the evolution of collective behaviors behind pattern formations using a phylogenetic framework. We review the collective behaviors that can be described by a single set of behavioral rules, and for which variations of the environmental and behavioral parameter values produce diverse patterns. We propose that this mechanism could be at the origin of the pattern diversity observed among related species, and that, when they are placed in the proper conditions, species have the behavioral potential to form patterns observed in related species. The comparative analysis of shelter tube construction by lower termites is consistent with this hypothesis. Although the use of shelter tubes in natural conditions is variable among species, most modern species have the potential to build them, suggesting that the behavioral rules for shelter tube construction evolved once in the common ancestor of modern termites. Our study emphasizes that comparative studies of behavioral rules have the potential to shed light on the evolution of collective behaviors.

Keywords: collective behavior; evolutionary convergence; nest construction; parallel evolution; parameter tuning; self‐organization.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Structures built by termite species adopting the three nesting strategies of Abe (1987). (a) Cross section of nesting wood occupied by the one‐piece nester Neotermes sugioi, Kalotermitidae, exposing nest cavities and plugging structures. (b) Shelter tubes built by the multiple‐piece nester Heterotermes aureus, Rhinotermitidae, connecting dead parts of the living tree through underground galleries. (c) Nests built by the separate‐piece nesters Amitermes meridionalis (left) and Cubitermes sp. (right), Termitidae. Separate‐piece nesters build nests with complex internal structures, separated from their food resources. Photographs C are reproduced with the permission of Jan Šobotník
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Phylogenetic tree of termites, simplified from Bourguignon et al. (2015), showing the widely shared ability to build shelter tubes in termites. The genera retaining the ability to build shelter tubes without using them in natural conditions are underlined. Some genera were lumped together into higher‐ranked monophyletic lineages to account for the lack of research. The shelter tube building ability of Stolotermitidae is based on observations on Stolotermes, and that of Hodotermitidae is based on observations on Anacanthotermes. Species of Kalotermitidae were lumped together as they all lack the ability for shelter tube construction. We found no information about shelter tube construction in Serritermitidae + Termitogeton
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Pictures showing shelter tubes constructed by (a) Hodotermopsis sjostedti and (b) Zootermopsis nevadensis. Observations were made under laboratory conditions. The shelter tube construction was stimulated by starving condition and nest damage
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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