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Ontogeny of soldier behaviour and its polyethism in termites
Homolka, Petr ; Šobotník, Jan (advisor) ; Frouz, Jan (referee)
The presence of soldier caste is an important synapomorphy of group Isoptera. The adaptation of this caste to defense tasks is more than obvious and some of their morphological or even behavioral adaptations can be quite impressive. The polyethism in termites is relatively well known inbetween rather worker caste. If there are such a studies pointing at polyethism in soldiers, they are connected with soldier polymorphism. The morphological differences are of course important stimulus to role separation. The goal of this thesis was to examine the polyethism in the species of the termite with monomorphic soldiers - Prorhinotermes simplex. I did behavioral experiments with it in enclosed arenas, recorded on specific days. The data shows, that there are differences inbetween individuals and it would be benefical to invest further time to subsequent studies. The thesis bring out new point of view to defensive behaviour of termites and suggests, that even termite species without polymorphic species may have soldiers with different tasks. Besides I managed to map ontogeny of soldier behaviour in the first two weeks after moulting from presoldier instar. Key words: Isoptera, polyethism, soldiers, ontogeny, defensive behaviour Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Ontogeny of soldier behaviour and its polyethism in termites
Homolka, Petr ; Šobotník, Jan (advisor) ; Frouz, Jan (referee)
The presence of soldier caste is an important synapomorphy of group Isoptera. The adaptation of this caste to defense tasks is more than obvious and some of their morphological or even behavioral adaptations can be quite impressive. The polyethism in termites is relatively well known inbetween rather worker caste. If there are such a studies pointing at polyethism in soldiers, they are connected with soldier polymorphism. The morphological differences are of course important stimulus to role separation. The goal of this thesis was to examine the polyethism in the species of the termite with monomorphic soldiers - Prorhinotermes simplex. I did behavioral experiments with it in enclosed arenas, recorded on specific days. The data shows, that there are differences inbetween individuals and it would be benefical to invest further time to subsequent studies. The thesis bring out new point of view to defensive behaviour of termites and suggests, that even termite species without polymorphic species may have soldiers with different tasks. Besides I managed to map ontogeny of soldier behaviour in the first two weeks after moulting from presoldier instar. Key words: Isoptera, polyethism, soldiers, ontogeny, defensive behaviour Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Biology and evolution of termite genus Neocapritermes (Blattodea: Termitoidea: Termitidae: Termitinae)
Cintulová, Eliška ; Šobotník, Jan (advisor) ; Jakub, Jakub (referee)
My thesis is a brief summary of knowledge on termites, especially genus Neocapritermes. It describes ecology, nutrition, caste patterns and phylogenetics of termites. In detail, it characterizes Neocapritermes taracua, its ecology and defensive behaviour of workers. The main topic is formulation of phylogenetic hypothesis concerning position of genus Neocapritermes and relatedness among particular species of the genus. My results suggest that Planicapritermes and Dentispicotermes are the closest relatives of Neocapritermes, perhaps inner taxa located within the genus.
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