{"title":"Occurrence of Gregarines (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) in the Neotropical Soldierless Ruptitermes spp. (Isoptera, Termitidae, Apicotermitinae)","authors":"V. Janei, A. M. Costa‐Leonardo","doi":"10.13102/sociobiology.v69i4.8268","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This is the first record of gregarine infection in the worker midgut of the Neotropical termites Ruptitermes pitan and Ruptitermes reconditus. Gregarines have already been described in the gut and hemocoel in workers of other termite species, and although these protozoa are not able to kill these insects, they may affect their fitness. In the present study, gregarines were only observed in the gut lumen or linked to the midgut wall of termite workers. Histological sections of the worker midgut of Ruptitermes spp. showed three phases of the gregarine life cycle with the same individual worker displayed up to 4 gamonts and 2 trophozoites.","PeriodicalId":21971,"journal":{"name":"Sociobiology","volume":"42 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sociobiology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v69i4.8268","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ENTOMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This is the first record of gregarine infection in the worker midgut of the Neotropical termites Ruptitermes pitan and Ruptitermes reconditus. Gregarines have already been described in the gut and hemocoel in workers of other termite species, and although these protozoa are not able to kill these insects, they may affect their fitness. In the present study, gregarines were only observed in the gut lumen or linked to the midgut wall of termite workers. Histological sections of the worker midgut of Ruptitermes spp. showed three phases of the gregarine life cycle with the same individual worker displayed up to 4 gamonts and 2 trophozoites.
期刊介绍:
SOCIOBIOLOGY publishes high quality articles that significantly contribute to the knowledge of Entomology, with emphasis on social insects. Articles previously submitted to other journals are not accepted. SOCIOBIOLOGY publishes original research papers and invited review articles on all aspects related to the biology, evolution and systematics of social and pre-social insects (Ants, Termites, Bees and Wasps). The journal is currently expanding its scope to incorporate the publication of articles dealing with other arthropods that exhibit sociality. Articles may cover a range of subjects such as ecology, ethology, morphology, population genetics, physiology, toxicology, reproduction, sociobiology, caste differentiation as well as economic impact and pest management.