Objectives:

·         Discovery of new biocontrol agents such as fungi, nematodes and viruses.

·         Discovery of natural products of termite, wood and plant origin that affect the behavior and survival of FST.

·         Study the biology and physiology of colony development and regulation of caste differentiation with emphasis on nymph formation in FST.

Major accomplishments:

Discovered a strain of Metarhizium anisopliae (C4-B, patent pending), very lethal particularly to FST alates. Discovered two nematodes, Rhabditis rainai n. sp. and Panagrolaimus sp. from FST.

Isolated a fraction with aggregation activity from salivary glands and partially consumed wood extracts. Demonstrated acute toxicity in extracts of C4-B strain of M. anisopliae.  Elucidated the role of host food on inter-colonial aggression in FST. Revealed the fine structure of tergal glands (Fig.1) in female alates and showed that trilinolein, their main product may be used as a nuptial or companionship gift to males. Showed that modified vetiver oil, catnip oil and its major components and, orange oil extract adversely affect tunneling and survival of FST.

Made a first record of mating in FST (Fig. 2). Revealed the fine-structure of sperm and spermatheca in the primary reproductives. Through studies of incipient laboratory colonies, elucidated colony growth and caste differentiation. Confirmed that JH III is the primary developmental hormone in FST and that endogenous JH titer and feedback from existing soldiers regulate soldier production. Conducted a detailed study of molting in FST including the titers of JH and ecdysone, loss and acquisition of gut fauna. Under optimal conditions only about 1% of the workers in a colony molt each day. Showed that nymphs are formed only in an intact colony (with king and queen present). A seven-year old laboratory queen is partially physogastric (Fig. 3), has about 350 ovarioles and can lay more than a hundred eggs per day.      

 Figure 1:                               Figure 2:                            Figure 3: