Food quantity and the intensity of the alarm signal combine to modulate the resource selection in a termite species

Maximizing food intake while minimizing risk is an important trade-off in the foraging behavior of most animals. In general, foragers are vulnerable and the ability to trade off benefits (food quantity) against costs (risk of being killed) may provide a considerable ecological advantage. Despite the increasing number of studies, the effects of food quantity and mortality risk signals on resource selection in eusocial insect is not well understood. Here, we investigated the combination of distinct levels of food quantity and the intensity of alarm signal on resource selection of a Neotropical termite, Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae). Manipulative bioassays with binary and multiple choices were conducted over time to check the recruitment of termite groups among resources containing different levels of food quantity and alarm signals. Overall, our results showed that regardless of food quantity, termites avoid a food source if there is even a small amoun...在多数动物的觅食行为中，最大化食物摄入同时降低遭遇风险，是一项关键的权衡策略。一般而言，觅食个体处于易受攻击的状态，因此能够在收益（食物量）与代价（被捕杀风险）间进行权衡的能力，可带来显著的生态优势。尽管相关研究数量与日俱增，但食物量和死亡风险信号对真社会性昆虫（eusocial insect）资源选择的影响，目前尚未得到充分阐释。本研究以新热带白蚁物种Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky)（鼻白蚁科：Nasutitermitinae）为对象，探究了不同食物量梯度与告警信号强度的组合对其资源选择行为的影响。本研究通过时序开展的双选与多选操控性生物测定实验，检测了不同食物量与告警信号水平的资源间白蚁群体的招募情况。整体而言，研究结果显示：无论食物量多少，只要存在哪怕微量的告警信号，白蚁便会规避该食物源……