Biology of the soldier caste in the termite genus Prorhinoterme (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Hanus, Robert

Ontogeny of soldiers in Prorhinotermes simplex The soldiers were found to develop from larvae of the second up to the eighth instar, via a short (13-17 days) presoldier stage. The early soldier instars were found exclusively in incipient colonies while the mature colony contained late instar soldiers only. The first soldiers occur early in the incipient colonies; as soon as one year a er the establishment of these colonies a high proportion of soldiers was observed, which is comparable to that in mature colonies. The abrupt change in the external anatomy occurs in two steps. During the larva-presoldier moult, the head increases in length but only slightly in width. During the presoldier-soldier moult, both the length and width of the head increase markedly and the typical cordate shape is attained; the relative size of the pronotum increases considerably. The long falcate mandibles develop mainly during the larva-presoldier moult. One antennal segment is added during these two moults. With increasing instar age of soldiers a relative increase of the pronotum and the head size in its posterior region was observed. No functional differences in external anatomy were found among the six soldier instars. The composition of the frontal gland secretion is similar in the six soldier instars, an...

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