BEHAVIORAL AND CHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF TRAIL PHEROMONE FROM THE TERMITE RETICULITERMES HESPERUS BANKS (ISOPT, RHINOTERMITIDAE)

A single active fraction, eliciting both induction of trail-following and trail orientation, was isolated by HPLC from dichloromethane extracts of excised fourth and fifth sternites of Reticulitermes hesperus workers. GC separation of the active high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fraction and subsequent bioassays indicated that a single major component is responsible both for induction of trail-following and for orientation of termites on the trail. Solvent extracts of intact termite bodies and excised sternites elicited greater trail-following activity than extracts of excised abdomens or thoraxes not separated from heads. Workers from two geographically separate colonies responded similarily to dichloromethane extracts of intact bodies and excised sternites from members of either colony, providing no evidence of extractable colony-recognition compounds, although the results suggest that different colonies may produce different quantities of trail pheromone.