When you talk about predator prey relationships between species, most of the time you think of two different species. Sometimes the predator and the prey are the same species. Take for example termites, who learn to avoid running into one another. They use communication so that they have there own section of "wood" to live in. It does't matter who is the better kind, it just matters that they never run into each other.
In an August, 26 2009 article in Animal Planet, Dani Cooper talks about Theordore Evans and his research about termites. He talks about how two Australian termite species coexist with each other. He found that Cryptotermes secundus can locate their deadly "cousin," Coptotermes acinaciformis by listening to the vibrations they make when they are chewing. Once the Cryptotermes hears the vibrations of the other one they know to go the other direction. Evans recorded vibrations of both termites chewing. When he played this for the Cryptotermes secundus they ran away from vibrations made by their "deadly" cousin, but when they heard vibrations of their own kind they moved towards the sound. If the piece of wood was smaller the response was increased. Meaning that the termites are able to how close they were to each other. So even though the Cryptotermas are less dangerous than Coptotermas, they have found ways of avoiding them.
Evans think that since we know that termites respond to vibrations, there could be away from keeping them away from our houses. That way no chemicals would have to be used and people wouldn't have to worry about termites eating their homes!
Posted by Samantha Babcock
Revision -
There was no mention of pheromones at all in the article. It just talked about how they used vibrations how chewing to tell how far away they were from each other. They mentioned in the article that they need to do more specific research about the vibrations. To find out things like what about the vibrations makes them able to communicate. Also the article only mentioned these two types of termites. But along with furthering research, Evans said he was interested in finding out if this takes place within other species of termites.
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ReplyDeleteThat experiment seems really interesting- and seems to parallel other species that use tactile information for recognition. I believe some water bugs use the vibrations of their legs to tell the sexes apart (but don't quote me). Does the article say anything about pheromone use in the termites? I know they use pheromones for many of their daily functions so it would be interesting to see if they use pheromones of the other species to also identify them.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Christine Rega
I've never known much about termites but it seems like they have developed pretty efficient communication tactics. Do different species of termites often live in close vicinities? I believe that the experiment to keep termites away from homes using vibrations is very smart. I would think that since we have been able to mimic other species signals and get a desired response that it seems quite probable that we could do the same with termite's vibration signals.
ReplyDelete--Kathleen Goller
If this experiment could be put into use to exterminate termites from homes that would be very useful. Did the article mention if the vibration theory only applied to these two types of termites or all termites? Did the article also mention anything about the "deadlier" cousin moving away from the other or does the deadlier cousin move into the other's territory? Very interesting article.
ReplyDeleteSara Ku
The termites are able to steer clear of each other because of the vibrations, but do they purposefully communicate with each other? You said that they can differentiate species based on the vibrations of them chewing, but the termite that is chewing doesn't seem to be sending a signal it is just chewing. How can they tell how close they are through the vibrations?
ReplyDelete-Tara Quist
This article is really interesting. I am a bit confused on how they send the vibrations. Is it when they are chewing through the wood? Is this the only way they communicate with each other? If the two different species by chance encountered each other would kill each other? This is a really good article.
ReplyDelete-Carlos (week 4)