Termite Trail Following Lab Report PDF

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BIOL 002 - Final Report for BIOL 002 Experiment 1...

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By Riley Forbes Lab Partner: Austin Viveiros Biology Lab Section: L16 Date: 2/6/17

Subterranean Termites Following Papermate Pen Trails with Different Widths: Introduction: Trail-following is an ability possessed by many insects that can assist in finding and reproducing with a mate or locating and collecting food. Subterranean (Reticulitermes sp.) termites are small, blind worker termites whose “job” is to collect food for their colony. Recticulitermes sp. rely on communication through the use of chemical messengers, pheromones, left by other termites from their colony to locate food. A previous report shed light on the fact that pen inks, in particular those from Papermate, contain isolated glycol compounds that can stimulate trail following behavior in Subterranean termites (Chen et al. 1998). The purpose of using subterranean termites in this experiment was because they are strong-trail followers who rely solely on trails for survival. By using pens with ink that results in a similar trail-following behavior as pheromones produced by termites, we hope to gather information about Recticulitermes sp.’s ability to follow different sized trails. The purpose of the experiment was to attempt to get a better understanding of the effect of trail-thickness on the distance the termites followed the trail. This information can be utilized to form future experiments relating to the use of artificial pheromones, such as those found in pens, or help pest control understand how to lure termites using trials made by the termites or synthesized trails in order to better exterminate them. The hypothesis proposed was: worker subterranean termites follow a thick – ½ cm wide – line farther than a line made by a single stroke of a pen. Methods:

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Figure 1: Using a black Papermate pen we marked out a ½ cm thick line shown above and single pen line, each labeled at ½ cm increments in order to measure the distance the termites traveled. Creating the Trail: To create the trail, a piece of blank printer paper was cut to fit loosely in a clear, lidded tray. Using a ruler and a black Papermate pen two trails, with an inch distance between each other, were drawn from one end of the paper to the other with approximately an inch of paper unmarked on each end. One trail was drawn just as a line across the paper, but the other was measured to be one-half centimeter in width. The paper was then placed in the tray and in each of the four corners a folded and soaked kimwipe was added to provide the termites with necessary moisture. Data Collection Method: To measure the distance traveled along the trail tick marks, written in pencil, were drawn at every half centimeter along both lines. Each termite, individually, was then allowed one attempt to walk along the designated trail in the tray in while observations were recorded regarding the distance each termite travelled along the thick versus thin line. Finally, the data was compiled into a bar graph that showed the average distance travelled along each line and was accompanied with the range of distance travelled for each termite. Results:

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Figure 2: For both the trails tested (½ cm and thin line) the average distance travelled along either line was calculated along with the standard deviations, which the error bars represent. The calculated p-value was 0.353 which is much larger than the acceptable .05 or less resulting in an 95% or greater likelihood that the data did not occur by random chance.

Average Trail Following Distance (cms) 6

Distance (cm)

5 4 3 2 1 0 Distance Travelled on 1/2 cm Line (cms):

Trails:

Table 1: The average rates of termites 1 – 10 and 11 – 20 were found for both trails in order to calculate the t-test p-value. The total average of all the termites from each group was also calculated and along with every average is a corresponding standard deviation.

Average Trail Following Distance:

Termites (1-10) Termites (11-20) Termites (120)**

Distance Travelled on 1/2 cm Line (cms): Average Standard Deviation: Distance (cms): 3.90 3.216 7.00 3.479 5.45 3.691

Distance Travelled on Thin Line (cms): Average Standard Distance (cms): Deviation: 2.45 1.767 1.90 2.234 2.18 2.033

T-Test P-Value: 0.353

The subterranean termites that followed the ½ cm wide trail traveled an average of 5.45 centimeters with a standard deviation of ± 3.691. In comparison, the termites following the Papermate pen width traveled only 2.18 centimeters on average and had a standard deviation of ± 2.003. Figure 2 below clearly shows these averages and their standard deviations, however by 3

looking at the data one can see that it is not statistically significant. Error bars represent the variation in the data, in this case the average distance, and the reason they overlap is because the data collected had too large of a range of distances. The t-test p-value which was calculated using the averages from the first to tenth and eleventh to twentieth termites from each trail, is shown in table 1 along with the averages, and was found to be 0.353. This means that there is a 35.3% chance that the data would show the null hypothesis to be true, or it would find that the distance traveled by the termites along the Papermate pen width was greater than that of the thicker (½ cm) line. Discussion: The hypothesis that was proposed was that worker subterranean termites follow a thick – ½ cm wide – line farther than a line made by a single stroke of a pen. This hypothesis was not supported by the data collected as there was not a statistically significant difference in the distance traveled by Recticulitermes sp. following the thick trail compared to those following the thinner trail. One potential limitation and error that may have affected our results was that the distance each termite traveled may not have been uniform as the data was collected using pencil marks along each line and the distance traveled was visually counted; however, this limitation was consistent throughout the entirety of the experiment. The distance traveled by the worker subterranean termites on the ½ cm trail averaged 5.45 ± 3.691 while the termites following the single pen stroke trail averaged 2.18 ± 2.033. While this difference in averages was fairly drastic the standard deviations show that the data gathered was widely varied. The reason for this variation and ultimately the lack of statistical significance found between the two trails may have been influenced by a variety of factors such as the pen’s pheromone not being strong enough, some termites wanted motivation or a reward to 4

follow the trail to the end, and the termites were more influenced by the scents left by those before them than the pen’s pheromones. A possible follow-up question for this experiment is: do worker subterranean termites follow the trails left by termites previously walking on the paper before them? Reference: Chen, J., Henderson, G., & Laine, R. A. (1998). Isolation and Identification of 2-Phenoxyethanol from a Ball Point Pen Ink as Trail-Following Substance of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes sp. . Journal of Entomological Science, 33(1), 97-105. Retrieved February 6, 2017.

Supplemental Raw Data: Trail-Following Distance: 5

Termites: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Average: Standard Deviation:

Distance Travelled on 1/2 cm Line (cms): 2 5 2.5 4 0.5 7.5 3.5 1.5 11.5 1 9.5 8 3 10.5 10 6 2.5 7 12 1.5 5.45 3.69

Termites: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Average: Standard Deviation:

Distance Travelled on Thin Line (cms): 0.5 1 3 3.5 6 1.5 4 1.5 0 3.5 0.5 0.5 2 1 2.5 0 7 0 5 0.5 2.175 2.03

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