Expansion of the nest of Nasutitermes costalis

摘要: The nest expansion behavior ofNasutitermes costalis, a common Neotropical arboreal termite, was analyzed by means of direct and photographic observation thriving laboratory colony over 45-month period. 52 episodes were recorded, each resulting in the addition as much 10% to volume. process can be divided into 3 phases Initiation, Building, Termination. Termination results surface whose shape focuses initial building efforts during Initiation subsequent expansion. Building consists almost entirely multiple repetitions few simple architectural elements — primarily branching one wall two joining neighboring walls via bridge all occurring on smooth “active surface” which persist throughout episode. Interesting similarities between certainN. costalis features structures builtde novo queened termite groups from subfamilies Termitidae suggest that this is relatively primitive mode