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Identification of Termite Species by the Hydrocarbons in their Feces

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Abstract

Blends of abundant cuticular hydrocarbons are species-specific for termites (Isoptera) and can be used to identify a given taxon without the diagnostic castes, soldiers or adults. We demonstrate that hydrocarbon extracts of termite fecal pellets from damaged wood can also be characterized and used to identify termites responsible for damage, even though termites are no longer present or easily recovered. In structures infested by drywood termites, it is common to find fecal pellets, but difficult to extract termites from the finished wood in service. Nine species belonging to two families (Kalotermitidae and Termopsidae) were examined to compare the hydrocarbon composition of termites and their fecal pellets. Diversity was extensive: at least one half of the amount of the hydrocarbons from Neotermes connexus, Incisitermes immigrans, Cryptotermes brevis, Cryptotermes cynocephalus, Procryptotermes corniceps, and Zootermopsis nevadensis nuttingi was olefins. Incisitermes minor and Pterotermes occidentis incorporated only small amounts of olefins in cuticular hydrocarbons; Marginitermes hubbardi had no detectable olefins. Hydrocarbons extracted from fecal pellets were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to cuticular extracts and can be used to determine the termite species responsible without the termites present.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank C.H.M. Tome, R.J. Oshiro, S.Y. Uchima, and T.K. Brown for technical assistance and J.A. Baldwin for assistance with the cluster analysis. We extend thanks to Dr. and Mrs. H. Jarecki, J. Lazell, and the staff of the Guana Island Club for support and hospitality during the portion of this project conducted in the British Virgin Islands. This research was made possible, in part, by a grant to MIH by the Conservation Agency (through grants from the Falconwood Foundation), by a cooperative agreement between the University of Hawaii and the Pacific Southwest Research Station, by McIntire-Stennis funds for forestry research (J.K.G.), and by USDA-ARS Specific Cooperative Agreement 58-6615-4-237.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Berkeley, CA, 94701, USA

    Michael I. Haverty & Lori J. Nelson

  2. Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    R. Joseph Woodrow & J. Kenneth Grace

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  1. Michael I. Haverty
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Correspondence to Michael I. Haverty.

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Haverty, M.I., Woodrow, R.J., Nelson, L.J. et al. Identification of Termite Species by the Hydrocarbons in their Feces. J Chem Ecol 31, 2119–2151 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-6081-8

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