The performance of eusocial insect colonies is optimized by the division of labor among castes. Throughout the evolution of termites, there was an evident increase in the proportion of soldiers in the colonies. In derived termite species, the soldiers have a crucial role in defense and the initial phases of foraging. Here, we evaluated whether the soldiers of the Neotropical termite Nasutitermes corniger improve the foraging decisions. We tested the hypotheses that groups with soldiers (i) are more efficient searching for food, (ii) more efficiently recruit individuals, and (iii) a higher proportion of soldiers results in a more efficient balance between exploitation and exploration of food resources. Using behavioral bioassays under laboratory conditions, we show that the presence of soldiers in termite groups promotes a faster exploitation of the environment that allows them to encounter more food sources simultaneously. However, the presence of soldiers did not significantly increase the attraction of termite groups. Despite that, termite groups with higher soldier proportions were more able to perceive changes in the resource offerings by redirecting individuals to explore more profitable sources. Our results show that the role of soldiers in N. corniger increases the efficiency of termite groups in the exploration and exploitation of food resources.

中文翻译：

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白蚁 Nasutitermes corniger (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) 的士兵增加了开发食物资源的能力

通过种姓之间的分工优化了真社会性昆虫群体的表现。在白蚁的整个进化过程中，蚁群中士兵的比例明显增加。在衍生的白蚁物种中，士兵在防御和觅食的初始阶段起着至关重要的作用。在这里，我们评估了新热带白蚁 Nasutitermes Corniger 的士兵是否改善了觅食决策。我们测试了以下假设：有士兵的群体 (i) 更有效地寻找食物，(ii) 更有效地招募个人，以及 (iii) 更高比例的士兵导致食物资源开发和探索之间的更有效平衡。在实验室条件下使用行为生物测定，我们表明，白蚁群体中士兵的存在促进了对环境的更快利用，使他们能够同时遇到更多的食物来源。然而，士兵的存在并没有显着增加白蚁群体的吸引力。尽管如此，士兵比例较高的白蚁群体通过重新引导个体探索更有利可图的来源，更能够感知资源供应的变化。我们的结果表明，士兵在 N.corniger 中的作用提高了白蚁群体在食物资源勘探和开发中的效率。士兵比例较高的白蚁群体通过重新引导个体探索更有利可图的来源，更能够感知资源供应的变化。我们的结果表明，士兵在 N.corniger 中的作用提高了白蚁群体在食物资源勘探和开发中的效率。士兵比例较高的白蚁群体通过重新引导个体探索更有利可图的来源，更能够感知资源供应的变化。我们的结果表明，士兵在 N.corniger 中的作用提高了白蚁群体在食物资源勘探和开发中的效率。