In a first, scientists have succeeded in sequencing the genome of the termites and it has helped them know how these pests create their rigid social order.
The new genome was detailed on May 20 in the journal Nature Communications. It uncovers some interesting things about the caste system of termites and the roots of the sexual staying power of their males.
Termites like other social insects "such as ants, honeybees and some wasps" live in highly structured "caste systems." Each termite is programmed to perform a rigidly defined job. Some termites are kings and queens and only they can produce, while drones and soldiers work, defend the colony or take care of young.
Jurgen Liebig, a behavioral biologist at Arizona State University, and his colleagues collected dampwood termites from Monterey, California and then sequenced the genome of the insects to measure the expression of genes or how they turned on and off.
The research helped Liebig and his team know several new things about termite sexual and social behavior. The society of the termites can be divided roughly half males and half ! females. The kings as well as queens are sexually active and kinfs are capable of making sperm throughout their lifetimes. Dampwood termite males possess testes too that grow seasonally.
The societies of ants and honeybees are predominantly female societies and in ants sex is a one-time affair. "Their societies generally consist of females, the males are only there to fly out, mate and die," Liebig told Live Science.
Source : http://www.delhidailynews.com/news/Termites-genetic-code-linked-to-insects-complex-social-structures-1400704202/
