Behavioral responses of Syntermitinae termites to predatory and heterospecific intruders under different social contexts

This dataset contains behavioral data from controlled laboratory experiments investigating collective defense in five species of Syntermitinae termites (Cornitermes cumulans, Embiratermes festivellus, Procornitermes araujoi, Silvestritermes euamignathus, and Syntermes obtusus). Termites were exposed to two intruder types, the predatory ant Solenopsis saevissima and the heterospecific termite Heterotermes tenuis, under four social-context treatments: isolated individuals, same-caste pairs, mixed-caste pairs, and individuals accompanied by nymphs. Both workers and soldiers were tested. The dataset includes behavioral observations recorded during standardized encounters, including frequencies of attack, threat, and alarm behaviors. Data were used to quantify total defensive responses, evaluate caste- and context-dependent behavioral plasticity using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), and characterize multivariate defensive syndromes through distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA). A total of 200 independent behavioral arenas were conducted (5 focal species × 2 intruder types × 20 replicates). Replicates were equally distributed between two source colonies, and no termite individual was reused across trials. The data support the findings presented in: Moreira, E.A. & Olavarríeta, A.J.A. Threat identity and social context structure collective defense in Syntermitinae termites. This repository also contains the R scripts used for data processing, statistical analyses (GLMM and db-RDA), and figure generation, allowing full reproduction of the results presented in the manuscript.