Abstract
Biogenic magnetite has been detected in several species of social insects and may well form the basis of a magnetic sensory system in these animals, although other physiological functions are possible, too. We report here on hysteresis measurements on honeybees ( Apis mellifera) and the termite Neocapritermes opacus. The ratio of saturation remanence to saturation magnetization, J rs/ J s, was determined as 0.11 (0.15) in bees (termite), the coercive force H c as 90 (50 Oe). The magnetic remanence is generally low (of the order of 10 −6 emu per individual). The values obtained are similar to the ones reported previously on a migratory ant species, which suggests that biomineralization of magnetic material in social insects may underlie a generic process.
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