Chemical predation signals: a possible major influence on the differential predation strategy of ants on termites

Chemical predation signals: a possible major influence on the differential predation strategy of ants on termites | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Chemical predation signals: a possible major influence on the differential predation strategy of ants on termites Shu-min Fan, Xiao-lan Wen, Bao Jia, Yuan-ru Wu, Zhao-tian Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4520491/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Chemical pheromones are an important means of communication within social insects, but they can also be easily exploited by predators as cues for locating prey. Ants are the most important predator for termites, ants have evolved a strategy for termites, and termites have their defense strategy for ants. Here, we showed that the ant Odontoponera transvers adopt differential predation strategies towards different species of termites (Coptotermes formosanus, Ancistrotermes dimorphus, and Macrotermes barneyi). The O. transversa actively preys on A. dimorphus and M. barneyi, but passively preys on C. formosanus. As long as there was A. dimorphus or M. barneyi presented, ants O. transversa have no predatory behavior towards C. formosanus. In other words, ants have a much greater predatory preference for A. dimorphus and M. barneyi than for C. formosanus. We provided three hypotheses (nutritional value, predation signals, and defensive capabilities) to explain this predatory difference. A series of field trapping experiments and laboratory behavioral experiments to verify predation signal is the major influence on the differential predation strategy of O. transversa on the three termites. It was demonstrated that ants have a preference for the trail pheromones of termites, which leads to ants making different predatory strategies towards termites. Biological sciences/Ecology/Behavioural ecology Biological sciences/Zoology/Animal behaviour Ant Chemical predation signals Predation strategy Termite Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files dataset.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4520491","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":314977288,"identity":"ad178958-4fdd-4fc1-844f-804fb6d58073","order_by":0,"name":"Shu-min Fan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangxi Medical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shu-min","middleName":"","lastName":"Fan","suffix":""},{"id":314977289,"identity":"bd77bdad-cbe8-4798-b370-741ab2e6be44","order_by":1,"name":"Xiao-lan Wen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangxi Medical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiao-lan","middleName":"","lastName":"Wen","suffix":""},{"id":314977290,"identity":"25065d9b-0e7f-4014-bcb0-d1fa59512c48","order_by":2,"name":"Bao Jia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanning Institute of Termite Control","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bao","middleName":"","lastName":"Jia","suffix":""},{"id":314977292,"identity":"fce23c0d-dc6b-4419-a581-330ada492928","order_by":3,"name":"Yuan-ru Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangxi Medical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuan-ru","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":314977297,"identity":"1bdee0be-f2b4-40ac-941c-14784c15e568","order_by":4,"name":"Zhao-tian Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA70lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPmYGNhDNw8DAfAAqloBfCxtEiwFQCxtMKSEtDBAtIIsMiNTCzv7swY+KPzL8s3s+v+bNOczAz55jwPBzB16HpRv2nDHgkbhzdpvlzG2HGSR73hgw9p7Bq+WYBG8b0C83crcZfARqMbiRY8DM2IZPC2Ob5F+gFvkbOc8MEoFa7AlrYWaTBtkCNJz5AdgWCYJa2NikZc4Y8xjeSDNjnLktnUfizLOCg714tPDzH38m+aZCzl7uRvLjz7zbrOX425M3PviJRwuKjRIM4GTAwHCAOA3AFPOBWJWjYBSMglEwsgAAuNtHlsHA50sAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Guangxi Medical University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhao-tian","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-06-03 08:48:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4520491/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4520491/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":66637244,"identity":"4b8e3c6b-a613-48c0-9c9e-4b8cc5afadfb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-15 05:39:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":638081,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4520491/v1_covered_356dd9f0-f0e7-4532-b23e-01cfd5b1d3f4.pdf"},{"id":58544514,"identity":"101866ea-3a9a-4827-a674-34f42a495980","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-18 05:22:01","extension":"xlsx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":288697,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"dataset.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4520491/v1/9caf48ed45b0a557460b6954.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Chemical predation signals: a possible major influence on the differential predation strategy of ants on termites","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Ant, Chemical predation signals, Predation strategy, Termite","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4520491/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4520491/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Chemical pheromones are an important means of communication within social insects, but they can also be easily exploited by predators as cues for locating prey. Ants are the most important predator for termites, ants have evolved a strategy for termites, and termites have their defense strategy for ants. Here, we showed that the ant Odontoponera transvers adopt differential predation strategies towards different species of termites (Coptotermes formosanus, Ancistrotermes dimorphus, and Macrotermes barneyi). The O. transversa actively preys on A. dimorphus and M. barneyi, but passively preys on C. formosanus. As long as there was A. dimorphus or M. barneyi presented, ants O. transversa have no predatory behavior towards C. formosanus. In other words, ants have a much greater predatory preference for A. dimorphus and M. barneyi than for C. formosanus. We provided three hypotheses (nutritional value, predation signals, and defensive capabilities) to explain this predatory difference. 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