Combined foraging strategies and soldier behaviour in Nasutitermes aff. coxipoensis (Blattodea: Termitoidea: Termitidae)

A range of behavioural strategies and sensory abilities allows animals to minimize costs involved in food search. By building a network of tunnels and presenting a large number of soldiers (i.e., trophically dependent individuals), Nasutitermes spp. termites feature behaviours that imply additional costs during this process. Here we evaluated N. aff. coxipoensis foraging strategies focusing on the role of soldiers during foraging. Field experiments were carried out via nests transplantation to dune areas, and laboratory experiments evaluated termite responses to sternal gland chemical signals from workers and soldiers. N. aff. coxipoensis presented primarily nocturnal foraging. Soldiers typically initiated foraging; however, in established trails, the number of workers was always higher than that of soldiers. The number of trails remained constant over time, while the number of tunnels increased linearly over time. A higher proportion of tunnels originated in surrounding areas than directly from the nests. At observation points with tunnels, there were more stationary than walking soldiers; the opposite was true at observation points without tunnels. In mixed groups, the workers chose to follow soldier chemical signals, and in these groups, soldiers were the first to follow trails. Our results allowed us to identify a not common foraging strategy in termite species; which included the establishment of trails followed by construction of tunnels. Such foraging strategies occur predominantly at night and soldiers play a key role in the foraging process. This foraging strategy reported here seems to be employed to optimize energetic gain.