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The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius

The larval parasitoid Verticia fasciventris Malloch (Diptera: Calliphoridae) develops in the head of soldiers of the fungus-growing termite Macrotermes carbonarius (Hagen) (Isoptera: Termitidae). Morphological and behavioral changes in the host were evaluated and the termite castes and stages that w...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Neoh, Kok-Boon, Lee, Chow-Yang
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: University of Wisconsin Library 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3281457/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21861651
http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.011.4701
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author Neoh, Kok-Boon
Lee, Chow-Yang
author_facet Neoh, Kok-Boon
Lee, Chow-Yang
author_sort Neoh, Kok-Boon
collection PubMed
description The larval parasitoid Verticia fasciventris Malloch (Diptera: Calliphoridae) develops in the head of soldiers of the fungus-growing termite Macrotermes carbonarius (Hagen) (Isoptera: Termitidae). Morphological and behavioral changes in the host were evaluated and the termite castes and stages that were parasitized were identified. The larval emergence process is also described and possible mechanisms for the parasitoid fly's entry into the host body are discussed based on qualitative observations. Only a single larva per host was found. The mature larva pupated outside the host's body by exiting between the abdominal cerci. Parasitized soldiers possess a short and square-shaped head capsule, a pair of notably short mandibles, and a pair of 18-segmented antennae. Although parasitized soldiers were statistically less aggressive than healthy soldiers (P < 0.05), they expressed varying levels of aggression. Both minor and major soldiers can be parasitized and based on evidence from presoldiers, parasitization may begin during the precursor stages of soldiers. However, the stage at which parasitism first occurs has not been determined.
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spelling pubmed-32814572012-02-24 The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius Neoh, Kok-Boon Lee, Chow-Yang J Insect Sci Article The larval parasitoid Verticia fasciventris Malloch (Diptera: Calliphoridae) develops in the head of soldiers of the fungus-growing termite Macrotermes carbonarius (Hagen) (Isoptera: Termitidae). Morphological and behavioral changes in the host were evaluated and the termite castes and stages that were parasitized were identified. The larval emergence process is also described and possible mechanisms for the parasitoid fly's entry into the host body are discussed based on qualitative observations. Only a single larva per host was found. The mature larva pupated outside the host's body by exiting between the abdominal cerci. Parasitized soldiers possess a short and square-shaped head capsule, a pair of notably short mandibles, and a pair of 18-segmented antennae. Although parasitized soldiers were statistically less aggressive than healthy soldiers (P < 0.05), they expressed varying levels of aggression. Both minor and major soldiers can be parasitized and based on evidence from presoldiers, parasitization may begin during the precursor stages of soldiers. However, the stage at which parasitism first occurs has not been determined. University of Wisconsin Library 2011-04-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3281457/ /pubmed/21861651 http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.011.4701 Text en © 2011 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Article
Neoh, Kok-Boon
Lee, Chow-Yang
The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius
title The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius
title_full The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius
title_fullStr The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius
title_full_unstemmed The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius
title_short The Parasitoid, Verticia fasciventris Causes Morphological and Behavioral Changes in Infected Soldiers of the Fungus-Growing Termite, Macrotermes carbonarius
title_sort parasitoid, verticia fasciventris causes morphological and behavioral changes in infected soldiers of the fungus-growing termite, macrotermes carbonarius
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3281457/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21861651
http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.011.4701
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