Investigation on the physiological change in founders is helpful for understanding the strategy of termites to overcome severe and nutrition-limited condition in incipient colonies. Physiological changes of primary reproductives were analyzed 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 7.5 months after founding incipient female-female (FF) colonies or female-male (FM) colonies in the subterranean termite R. chinensis Snyder. We found that the fresh weight of FM_king or FM_queen was significantly lower than those of FF_queen at 7.5 months, suggesting that FM_king and FM_queen underwent dehydration and hardening to improve their cold resistance. There was a significantly negative linear correlation in the protein titer between FF_queen and FM_queen at 3.5 months. The decrease in protein titer of FF_queen may be due to oviposition and eggs-guarding at 1.5 months, and the subsequent increase may be due to swallowing eggs. The increase in protein titer of FM_queen at 1.5 months may be because the king can replenish the queen with protein through the transfer of proctodeal pellets, while the subsequent decrease may be due to sharply increased consumption of protein by incubation and brooding. There was marginally significant negative correlation between glucose and triglyceride titers in FM_queen and FM_king at 3.5 months, respectively. These findings suggested that indirect mutual conversion of glucose and triglyceride may occur without external nutritional supplement in primary reproductives of R. chinensis .

中文翻译：

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地下白蚁 Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder 建立初期群体后初级繁殖体的生理变化

研究白蚁的生理变化有助于了解白蚁克服初期群体中严重和营养有限条件的策略。在地下白蚁 R. chinensis Snyder 中建立初期雌性-雌性 (FF) 群体或雌性-雄性 (FM) 群体后 0.5、1.5、2.5、3.5 和 7.5 个月，分析了初级生殖的生理变化。我们发现FM_king或FM_queen在7.5个月时的鲜重明显低于FF_queen，说明FM_king和FM_queen经过脱水硬化以提高其抗寒性。在3.5个月时FF_queen和FM_queen之间的蛋白质效价呈显着负线性相关。FF_queen蛋白滴度下降可能是由于1.5月龄的产卵和护卵，而随后的增加可能是因为吞了鸡蛋。FM_queen在1.5个月时蛋白效价的增加可能是因为国王可以通过转移proctodeal小球为女王补充蛋白质，而随后的下降可能是由于孵化和育雏对蛋白质的消耗急剧增加。分别在 3.5 个月时，FM_queen 和 FM_king 的葡萄糖和甘油三酯滴度之间存在略微显着的负相关。这些研究结果表明，在没有外部营养补充的情况下，红豆杉初级繁殖体可能会发生葡萄糖和甘油三酯的间接相互转化。5个月可能是因为国王可以通过转移proctodeal小球为王后补充蛋白质，而随后的减少可能是由于孵化和育雏对蛋白质的消耗急剧增加。分别在 3.5 个月时，FM_queen 和 FM_king 的葡萄糖和甘油三酯滴度之间存在略微显着的负相关。这些研究结果表明，在没有外部营养补充的情况下，红豆杉初级繁殖体可能会发生葡萄糖和甘油三酯的间接相互转化。5个月可能是因为国王可以通过转移proctodeal小球为王后补充蛋白质，而随后的减少可能是由于孵化和育雏对蛋白质的消耗急剧增加。分别在 3.5 个月时，FM_queen 和 FM_king 的葡萄糖和甘油三酯滴度之间存在略微显着的负相关。这些研究结果表明，在没有外部营养补充的情况下，红豆杉初级繁殖体可能会发生葡萄糖和甘油三酯的间接相互转化。