However, researchers are still not yet sure as to the reasons for a termites preference for blue trails as opposed to other colors. What happens, is the termites will follow whatever design is. Well, thats the theory, you work out how to prove it. This compound elicits trailfollowing behavior in termites as do the pheromones. What type of pencil, ink, paper or other item acts as a pheromone mimic. Their marked preference is for blue ink pens made by papermate and bic. A bait system can be used to lure termites in then the termites will create a trail that leads their buddies right back to the bait. Subterranean termites are the single greatest economic pest in the united states.
They seem to respond to other ballpoint pens but will not respond to all inks. Across most species of termites, a worker termite looks like an insect in the larval stage. Most termite damage is caused by subterranean underground termites, members of the family rhinotermitidae. If a pathway is drawn with an ink pen, then a termite will be attracted to the path and trace it due to the pheromones. Since 1968, biologists have known that termites line up and follow some ballpoint ink lines but not others. Physiological and chemical ecology trail following behavior of coptotermes formosanus and reticulitermes.
Once it died, its fellow termites would eat their fallen comrade getting more of the insecticide in. Termites recycle wood products into the soil by feeding on cellulosethe main cell wall component of plantsand breaking it down. Pdf isolation and identification of 2phenoxyethanol from a ballpoint pen ink as a termite trailfollowing substance was accomplished by using. Clearly this is the case with robert moors on trails. You may have noticed that termites do not follow all ink trails. Ten worker termites were again used for each test and it was apparent that there was a significant difference between the strength of a 6 termite trail in fig. Then, if one termite followed the inked trail to the poison, it could bring back some of that toxic chemical to share with others in the nest. Just make a good blob a third from the bottom of a long paper. Mutual use of trailfollowing chemical cues by a termite. Trailfollowing behavior of reticulitermes hesperus banks.
Drywood termites do not have a specific worker caste and instead, rely on nymphs to perform the typical worker role. Researchers believe that this may be due to evolutionary developments that prevent them from following red or black trails. In addition to buildings, termites also consume valuable books, documents and photographs. They navigate by following the scent of a pheromone, which is a chemical they secrete to send information to their buddies. Termites are attracted to the ink in papermate ballpoint pens but not those of rollerballs or. Trail following behavior after exposure to lufenuron.
Once it died, its fellow termites would eat their fallen comrade getting more of the insecticide in the process. Termites are well known for dining on wood products, including cardboard. It is unclear to why the termites preferred the right side, but it is possible that they have a stronger, or a more dominant right side due to biological. My attempt to show the formosan subterranean termite exhibiting trail following behavior with ball point pen ink. Demonstration of the unique trail following in subterranean termites is not only essential for extension clients to understand how termites forage and recruit nestmates to food source but also enhance their enthusiasm in learning.
Get pens, paper, termites, forceps, and a worksheet from the front of the laboratory. On nongiadient trails, more pseudergates were recruited to trails of greater pheromone concentration, they traveled a greater distance without pausing, and their rate of locomotion increased over that observed on trails of. Ink leads way to terminating termites science news for. They dont follow ink trails made by rollerball pens or felt tip markers. Since termites are blind they have to follow the scents of pheromones given off by scouts to find food. It was recorded that 20% termite workers reversed or left the trail when treated with concentrations of ppm or less. Worker termites have soft exteriors and tend to be white or pale brown. If bic pens have a similar scent to termites natural pheromones then they will follow those pen lines over those draw by other pens. University of kentucky entomologuniversity of kentucky. By opening this test booklet, i agree to comply with and be bound by. Mutual use of trailfollowing chemical cues by a termite host and. The results showed that termites spend a substantially longer amount of time following the path of an ink pen than paths made from other writing utensils. However, pest control technicians can take advantage of their trail marking habits. The reason they follow some ballpoint pen lines is because the ink contains.
What happens, is the termites will follow whatever design is drawn as long as the lines are heavy and well spaced. Termites papermate pen ink community bank of elmhurst. This book is an exploration of the trail as a planetwide phenomenon. This booklet contains tests in english, mathematics, reading, and science. In the preliminary experiment, when termites departed more than approximately 0. Unfortunately, creating a trail of ink isnt a practical method for drawing termites out of your home. Termites arent inclined to follow trails of black or red ink, nor do they traipse along lines drawn with felttip pens or rollerball pens. Termites are tricked into following ink trails put down by some pens. At 5000 ppm, 40% termite workers left the trail and at 10,000 ppm, 30% left the trail before 12 cm. Since termites are blind and cannot hear, they rely on smell to navigate.
Termite trailfollowing behavior elicited by ballpoint pen ink. Form hypotheses regarding the termite s response to the pen lines. We found that the hypothesis was supported by our experiments, as the termites were only interested in the. Among these grounddwelling termites, the most common structural pests are the eastern, western, and formosan subterranean termites.
Because of some minor printer problems, lighthouse trails now has a large surplus of nice seconds booklet tracts. Pheromones are, generally, chemical substances used by insects or even plants for many reasons, like trail marking, defense, reproduction, organization of the caste, among other things. Subterranean termites readily follow trail pheromones. The ink of some pens mimic a pheromone that termites use to communicate in the wild but keep in mind only some inks will work. Did you know you can get termites to go where you want just by drawing an ink trail. Although onepiece life type termites and inquilines are capable of laying trails, the efficiency of trailfollowing pheromones might not be crucial for colony success since colonies spend their whole life in the same place using it as nest and food source. When termites are placed near a doodle drawn with this ink, they follow the lines drawn on the paper as if they were following a path to a food source. Termite pheromones are secreted from exocrine glands which exist in the abdomen of termites. If they are a good trail marker, then the termites will orientate with the ink line. A telltale sign of termites eating cardboard boxes or other woodbased materials in your home is a sandy, gritty residue left in their path of destruction, warns the albuquerque journal. Using termites to learn the scientific method primary. Most of the issues in this batch are either some light faded yellow ink marks on some of the pages does not affect readability or some double feeds where there are two extra blank pages no text missing inside.
Termites use pheromones to communicate and they seem to follow the trail made by a paper mate pen because of the drying agent found in the ink. The trail pheromone of the termite, trinervitermes. Termite behavior lab 2 abstract termites use pheromones. Past studies have suggested that ink inside ballpoint pens contains pheromones, causing termites to follow any trail created by the ink. In the wild, termites leave scent trails made up of these pheromones so that they can follow each other. As for termites, pheromones are usually similar to a blue ink.
Pdf study of trailfollowing behavior of subterranean. When one termite finds something worth investigating. Termites are attracted to the ink in papermate ballpoint pens but not those of rollerballs or felt tips. Perhaps, he thought, a pens ink might lure termites to an insecticide. Although ballpoint pen ink has long been used to stimulate such trail following in termites, failures often occur. This is quite remarkableand your students will have fun. Trailfollowing behavior of coptotermes formosanus and. Termite trailfollowing behavior occurs because of pheromones produced in the sternal gland of the termites and secreted when the sternal gland touches a substance. Pdf isolation and identification of 2phenoxyethanol from a. Biology lab report 1 erva barnes ii termites lab report.
The experiment conducted was designed to observe whether or not termites follow lines. Conclusion purpose of experiment the purpose of this experiment was to determine which color of pen the termite would follow best. Alison durkin, marissa hart, meghan woods do termites follow lines. These insects eat woodbased materials to ingest the cellulose that the wood contains. The behavior ofreticulitermes hesperus banks pseudergates workers was assessed on artificial trails containing different concentrations of sternal gland extract. Molly wallace, kaitlin dougherty, jaycee leclair, and jamie cormier our results supported the hypothesis stated. It turns out that the ink inside some bic ballpoint pens includes a chemical compound that mimics the shape and structure of one of the trail pheromones secreted by termite workers. Bland southern regional research center, usdaars, 1100 robert e. Erva barnes ii termites lab report biology 411 l05 923 partners. There is a chemical in ink from ball point pens that closely resembles pheromones secreted by termites. You can break an ink into its component parts by paper chromatography. Here, the trail becomes a metaphor for just about everything else. To test this hypothesis, we designed and carried out an experiment using different writing utensils to compare to the paper mate ink.
Heres the reason why, and how to have a little fun with it. This activity is designed to allow students to observe termite trail following behavior. It so happens that a chemical in certain ink pens smells just like a. Reticulitermes follow lines drawn with ink pens occurred at the. Single component trailfollowing pheromones have been identified in all studied termite species except prorhinotermes simplex rhinotermitidae. Trail following behaviour of subterranean termite, heterotermes indicola wasmann was studied after exposing them to two insect growth regulators, hexaflumuron and lufenuron. Termites will tend to follow lines made on paper by ballpoint pens because the ink contains a chemical that is similar to the trail pheromones used by termites to lead colony members to food sources.
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