Termite colonies, composed of large numbers of siblings, develop an important caste-based division of labor; individuals in these societies interact via intra- or intercaste chemical communications. For more than 50 years, termites have been known to use a variety of pheromones to perform tasks necessary for maintenance of their societies, similar to eusocial hymenopterans. Although trail-following pheromones have been chemically identified in various termites, other types of pheromones have not been elucidated chemically or functionally. In the past decade, however, chemical compositions and biological functions have been successfully identified for several types of termite pheromones; accordingly, the details of the underlying pheromone communications have been gradually revealed. In this review, we summarize both the functions of all termite pheromones identified so far and the chemical interactions among termites and other organisms. Subsequently, we argue how termites developed their sophisticated pheromone communication. We hypothesize that termites have diverted defensive and antimicrobial substances to pheromones associated in caste recognition and caste-specific roles. Furthermore, termites have repeatedly used a pre-existing pheromone or have added supplementary compounds to it in accordance with the social context, leading to multifunctionalization of pre-existing pheromones and emergence of new pheromones. These two mechanisms may enable termites to transmit various context-dependent information with a small number of chemicals, thus resulting in formation of coordinated, complex, and rational chemical communication systems.

中文翻译：

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白蚁信息素综述：多方面的、环境相关的和合理的化学通讯

由大量同胞组成的白蚁群落形成了一种重要的基于种姓的劳动分工；这些社会中的个人通过种姓内或种姓间的化学通讯进行互动。50 多年来，众所周知，白蚁会使用各种信息素来执行维持其社会所必需的任务，类似于真社会膜翅目昆虫。尽管已经在各种白蚁中化学鉴定了跟踪信息素，但尚未从化学或功能上阐明其他类型的信息素。然而，在过去的十年中，已经成功地确定了几种类型的白蚁信息素的化学成分和生物学功能。相应地，信息素通讯的底层细节也逐渐被揭开。在这次审查中，我们总结了迄今为止发现的所有白蚁信息素的功能以及白蚁与其他生物之间的化学相互作用。随后，我们讨论白蚁如何发展其复杂的信息素交流。我们假设白蚁已将防御和抗菌物质转移到与种姓识别和种姓特定角色相关的信息素上。此外，白蚁根据社会环境反复使用预先存在的信息素或向其添加补充化合物，导致预先存在的信息素的多功能化和新信息素的出现。这两种机制可以使白蚁以少量的化学物质传递各种与环境相关的信息，从而形成协调、复杂、合理的化学通讯系统。