Abstract

Nasutitermes spp. soldier defensive secretion has a toxic and repellent effect against predators. Chemical profile characterization of this secretion is an interesting tool to differentiate similar termite species. This study aimed to determine defensive secretion composition of Nasutitermes spp. soldier and to apply chemotaxonomy tool for the unambiguous species identification. Fifteen volatile compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Multivariate analysis classified populations into three groups. Principal component (PCA), axis 1, was able to separate two groups: group I, colonies 1 and 2 (Nasutitermes corniger) and group II, colony 3 (Nasutitermes ephratae). Therefore, determination of defensive chemical secretion profile proved to be very useful in termite chemotaxonomy, since it was able to differentiate morphologically similar specimens.

摘要

Nasutitermes spp。士兵的防御性分泌物对捕食者具有毒害和驱避作用。这种分泌物的化学特征是区分相似白蚁物种的有趣工具。本研究旨在确定Nasutitermes spp 的防御性分泌物组成。士兵并应用化学​​分类学工具进行明确的物种识别。通过气相色谱-质谱法鉴定出 15 种挥发性化合物。多变量分析将人群分为三组。主成分 (PCA)，轴 1，能够将两组分开：第一组，菌落 1 和 2 ( Nasutitermes corniger)和第二组，菌落 3 ( Nasutitermes ephratae)）。因此，防御性化学分泌谱的测定被证明在白蚁化学分类学中非常有用，因为它能够区分形态相似的标本。