Mecanismos de defesa em ninhos de cupins (Insecta: Isoptera)

• Autor(a) principal: Cristaldo, Paulo Fellipe
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
• Texto Completo: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/2231
• topic: Defesa; Soldados; Invasão; Defense; Soldiers; Invasion; CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ZOOLOGIA

Termites present an elaborated defense system, but their nests are often invaded by a variety of organisms. The mechanisms that allow the invasion in termite nests are not elucidated. So, the objective of this dissertation was to understand the mechanisms of defense in termite nests. To do so, hypothesized that system failures defense may be due to innate or acquired factor, which would be providing the invasion and subsequently the coexistence of species. Our results show that (i) species with low proportion of soldiers, innate factor, not propitiate the presence of cohabitants, (ii) termite species with low proportion of soldiers have more workers active in defense and (iii) factors that occur throughout the life history of the colony lead a decreased in the defense system of the host species. Thus, we can be conclude that termites present a balance between their defense mechanisms which provides greater protection of the colony, however some faults occur throughout the life cycle of the colony, allowing the entry of invaders and subsequently the coexistence of species in termite nest.