DOI: 10.5061/dryad.79cnp5j2d
title: Food quantity and the intensity of the alarm signal combine to modulate the resource selection in a termite species

description: Maximizing food intake while minimizing risk is an important trade-off in
 the foraging behavior of most animals. In general, foragers are vulnerable
 and the ability to trade off benefits (food quantity) against costs (risk
 of being killed) may provide a considerable ecological advantage. Despite
 the increasing number of studies, the effects of food quantity and
 mortality risk signals on resource selection in eusocial insect is not
 well understood. Here, we investigated the combination of distinct levels
 of food quantity and the intensity of alarm signal on resource selection
 of a Neotropical termite, Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) (Termitidae:
 Nasutitermitinae). Manipulative bioassays with binary and multiple choices
 were conducted over time to check the recruitment of termite groups among
 resources containing different levels of food quantity and alarm signals.
 Overall, our results showed that regardless of food quantity, termites
 avoid a food source if there is even a small amount of alarm signal. This
 work contributes to a better understanding of habitat use by termite
 species. Furthermore, it shows for the first time the combined effects of
 food quantity and alarm signals on the resource selection of an important
 ecological and economic termite species. 
description: Binary and multiple choice
 bioassays were conducted in experimental arenas under laboratory
 conditions following procedures described in Silva et al. (2021) with modifications. Experimental
 arenas consisted of a plastic pot (250 mL) with an internal bottom surface
 lined with filter paper. In the binary choice bioassays, observations
 consisted of a central plastic pot connected in a straight line with a
 transparent tube (7 mm diameter x 5 cm of length) to two other plastic
 pots at the end containing the treatments (see Figure 1). In this
 bioassay, <em>N.
 corniger</em> groups
 were given access to different combinations of all treatments (LR+HAS,
 LR+LAS, HR+HAS, and HR+LAS) determined by a complete factorial as
 previously detailed above (see section “Manipulation of food resource
 quantity and levels of alarm signals”). For each combination of treatments
 (N= 6), three repetitions per nest
 (N= 8) were performed, totaling 144 experimental
 units. Control of binary choice bioassays consisted of the choice of
 termites between treatments versus the control solvent (sugarcane baits with only
 hexane; SC). For each treatment (N= 4), three repetitions per nest
 (N= 8) were performed, totaling 69 control
 bioassays. In addition, to test whether <em>N. corniger</em> groups may be able to distinguish arenas with
 and without resources, positive control was conducted with arenas
 containing sugarcane baits (with low and high resource quantity)
 versus empty arenas. The amount of food resources used
 in the controls was the same used in the treatments (i.e. low resource quantity [5 g] and high resource
 quantity [25 g]). For each treatment (N= 2), three repetitions per nest
 (N= 8) were performed, totaling 48 positive control
 bioassays. A total of 261 arenas were conducted in the binary choice
 bioassays. Figure 1 shows a scheme of all binary bioassays conducted.
 Bioassays with multiple choices were conducted
 in arenas consisting of a central plastic pot connected with a transparent
 tube (7 mm diameter x 5 cm of length) to four other plastic pots at the
 end containing the treatments tested (see Figure 1). Therefore, bioassays
 aimed to check the choice of termite groups for all treatments tested.
 Three repetitions per nest (N= 9) were performed, totaling 27 experimental
 units. A second bioassay with multiple choices was conducted including all
 treatments tested and an option without food resources (empty arena) (see
 Figure 1). This second bioassay was conducted in arenas consisting of a
 central plastic pot connected with a transparent tube (7 mm diameter x 5
 cm of length) to five other plastic pots at the end containing the
 treatments tested. Three repetitions per nest (N= 6) were performed, totaling 18 experimental
 units. A total of 45 arenas were conducted in the multiple-choice
 bioassays. Bioassays with multiple choices were designed to test the
 preference of termites for all treatments simultaneously.
 Termite groups (four soldiers and 16 workers)
 were confined into the central plastic pot of experimental arenas (in both
 binary and multiple-choice bioassays). The choice of the caste ratio and
 termite numbers in each experimental arena was a compromise between
 natural caste proportions (soldier: worker=3:7; Thorne 1985) and optimal
 density to maximize inter-individual contacts and survival (Miramontes and
 DeSouza 1996). The number
 of termites, in the
 vicinity of the food sources, in the pots with different treatments was
 recorded over 48 h.
 Evaluations were conducted at one, two, four, eight, 24, and 48 hours
 after the beginning of bioassays. Individuals were used only once in each
 repetition, and they were randomly selected from each colony.
 All
 bioassays were conducted in the laboratory under controlled conditions (25
 ºC, 70% r.h.).
description: This README file was generated on 2023-09-28 by Paulo Cristaldo. **GENERAL
 INFORMATION:** 1. This folder contains the data for the article: Silva,
 A.N.F., Silva, C.R., Santos, R.E.C., Arce, C.C.M., Araújo, A.P.A. and P.F.
 Cristaldo (2023). Food quantity and the intensity of the alarm signal
 combine to modulate the resource selection in a termite species.
 Behavioral Ecology. 2. Comments and requests should be addressed to Paulo
 Cristaldo: paulo.cristaldo@ufrpe.br. Data is free of use, but I would
 appreciate being told, and this dataset and the matching paper cited if
 appropriate. 3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate
 date): 2020-2021 4. Geographic location of data collection: Recife,
 Pernambuco, Brazil 5. Information about funding sources that supported the
 collection of the data: CNPq, CAPES and FACEPE **DATA & FILE
 OVERVIEW:** 1. The Experiments folder contains the data used in the
 article. The data are separated by bioassays. 2. File list: a)
 bioassay01\_BlankControl.txt b) bioassay02\_SolventControl.txt c)
 bioassay03\_Binary\_treatVScontrol.txt d)
 bioassay04\_Binary\_treatVStreat.txt e) bioassay05\_multiple\_treats.txt
 f) bioassay06\_multiple\_treatANDempty.txt 3. Relationship between files,
 if important: None 4. Additional related data collected that was not
 included in the current data package: None 5. Are there multiple versions
 of the dataset? No A. If yes, name of file(s) that was updated: NA i. Why
 was the file updated? NA ii. When was the file updated? NA
 #########################################################################
 **DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: bioassay01\_BlankControl.txt** 1. Number
 of variables: 12 2. Number of cases/rows: 1248 3. Variable List: *
 colonyID: name of colony sampled to be used in the bioassay * repetition:
 repetition conducted for each colony * repTime: repetition of time
 conducted for each repetition by colony * setUp: the name of set-up
 conducted in the bioassay (HRxEA= high resource vs. empty arena; LRxEA=
 low resource vs. empty arena) * setUpCode: setUpCode used to plot the
 graphics * trat: treatment in the biossay (HR= high resource, LR= low
 resource, EA= empty arena) * tempo: categorical time of evaluation of the
 number of termites in each side of the arena * time: continuous time of
 evaluation of the number of termites in each side of the arena * termite:
 total number of termite present in each side of the experimental arena *
 workers: number of workers present in each side of the experimental arena
 * soldiers: number of soldiers present in each side of the experimental
 arena * total: total number of termites inside the experimental arena 4.
 Missing data codes: None 5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations
 used: None
 #########################################################################
 **DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: bioassay02\_SolventControl.txt** 1.
 Number of variables: 12 2. Number of cases/rows: 1248 3. Variable List: *
 colonyID: name of colony sampled to be used in the bioassay * repetition:
 repetition conducted for each colony * repTime: repetition of time
 conducted for each repetition by colony * setUp: the name of set-up
 conducted in the bioassay (HRxSC= high resource vs. solvent control;
 LRxSC= low resource vs. solvent control) * setUpCode: setUpCode used to
 plot the graphics * trat: treatment in the biossay (HR= high resource, LR=
 low resource, SC= solvent control) * tempo: categorical time of evaluation
 of the number of termites in each side of the arena * time: continuous
 time of evaluation of the number of termites in each side of the arena *
 termite: total number of termite present in each side of the experimental
 arena * workers: number of workers present in each side of the
 experimental arena * soldiers: number of soldiers present in each side of
 the experimental arena * total: total number of termites inside the
 experimental arena 4. Missing data codes: None 5. Specialized formats or
 other abbreviations used: None
 #########################################################################
 **DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: bioassay03\_Binary\_treatVScontrol.txt**
 1. Number of variables: 12 2. Number of cases/rows: 2496 3. Variable List:
 * colonyID: name of colony sampled to be used in the bioassay *
 repetition: repetition conducted for each colony * repTime: repetition of
 time conducted for each repetition by colony * setUp: the name of set-up
 conducted in the bioassay (HRHRSxSC= high resource+ high alarm signal vs.
 solvent control; HRLRSxSC= high resource+ low alarm signal vs. solvent
 control; LRHRSxSC= low resource+ high alarm signal vs. solvent control;
 LRLRSxSC= low resource+ low alarm signal vs. solvent control) * setUpCode:
 setUpCode used to plot the graphics * trat: treatment in the biossay
 (HRHRS= high resource + high alarm signal, HRLRS= high resource + low
 alarm signal, LRHRS= low resource + high alarm signal, LRLRS= low resource
 + low alarm signal, SC= solvent control) * tempo: categorical time of
 evaluation of the number of termites in each side of the arena * time:
 continuous time of evaluation of the number of termites in each side of
 the arena * termite: total number of termite present in each side of the
 experimental arena * workers: number of workers present in each side of
 the experimental arena * soldiers: number of soldiers present in each side
 of the experimental arena * total: total number of termites inside the
 experimental arena 4. Missing data codes: None 5. Specialized formats or
 other abbreviations used: None
 #########################################################################
 **DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: bioassay04\_Binary\_treatVStreat.txt** 1.
 Number of variables: 12 2. Number of cases/rows: 3744 3. Variable List: *
 colonyID: name of colony sampled to be used in the bioassay * repetition:
 repetition conducted for each colony * repTime: repetition of time
 conducted for each repetition by colony * setUp: the name of set-up
 conducted in the bioassay (LRLRSxLRHRS= low resource + low alarm signal
 vs. low resource + high alarm signal, LRLRSxHRLRS= low resource + low
 alarm signal vs. high resource + low alarm signal, LRLRSxHRHRS= low
 resource + low alarm signal vs. high resource + high alarm signal,
 LRHRSxHRLRS= low resource + high alarm signal vs. high resource + low
 alarm signal, LRLRSxHRHRS= low resource + low alarm signal vs. high
 resource + high alarm signal, HRLRSxHRHRS= high resource + low alarm
 signal vs. high resource + high alarm signal) * setUpCode: setUpCode used
 to plot the graphics * trat: treatment in the biossay (HRHRS= high
 resource + high alarm signal, HRLRS= high resource + low alarm signal,
 LRHRS= low resource + high alarm signal, LRLRS= low resource + low alarm
 signal) * tempo: categorical time of evaluation of the number of termites
 in each side of the arena * time: continuous time of evaluation of the
 number of termites in each side of the arena * termite: total number of
 termite present in each side of the experimental arena * workers: number
 of workers present in each side of the experimental arena * soldiers:
 number of soldiers present in each side of the experimental arena * total:
 total number of termites inside the experimental arena 4. Missing data
 codes: None 5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None
 #########################################################################
 **DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: bioassay05\_multiple\_treats.txt** 1.
 Number of variables: 10 2. Number of cases/rows: 1404 3. Variable List: *
 colonyID: name of colony sampled to be used in the bioassay * repetition:
 repetition conducted for each colony * repTime: repetition of time
 conducted for each repetition by colony * trat: treatment in the biossay
 (HRHRS= high resource + high alarm signal, HRLRS= high resource + low
 alarm signal, LRHRS= low resource + high alarm signal, LRLRS= low resource
 + low alarm signal) * tempo: categorical time of evaluation of the number
 of termites in each side of the arena * time: continuous time of
 evaluation of the number of termites in each side of the arena * termites:
 total number of termite present in each side of the experimental arena *
 workers: number of workers present in each side of the experimental arena
 * soldiers: number of soldiers present in each side of the experimental
 arena * total: total number of termites inside the experimental arena 4.
 Missing data codes: None 5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations
 used: None
 #########################################################################
 **DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: bioassay06\_multiple\_treatANDempty.txt**
 1. Number of variables: 10 2. Number of cases/rows: 1170 3. Variable List:
 * colonyID: name of colony sampled to be used in the bioassay *
 repetition: repetition conducted for each colony * repTime: repetition of
 time conducted for each repetition by colony * trat: treatment in the
 biossay (EA= empty arena, HRHRS= high resource + high alarm signal, HRLRS=
 high resource + low alarm signal, LRHRS= low resource + high alarm signal,
 LRLRS= low resource + low alarm signal) * tempo: categorical time of
 evaluation of the number of termites in each side of the arena * time:
 continuous time of evaluation of the number of termites in each side of
 the arena * termites: total number of termite present in each side of the
 experimental arena * workers: number of workers present in each side of
 the experimental arena * soldiers: number of soldiers present in each side
 of the experimental arena * total: total number of termites inside the
 experimental arena 4. Missing data codes: None 5. Specialized formats or
 other abbreviations used: None
 #########################################################################