Correspondence of soldier defense secretion mixtures with cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes for chemotaxonomy of the termite genus Reticulitermes in North America.

Abstract

Soldier defense secretions from samples of Reticulitermes collected in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Georgia were characterized and correlated with cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes. Twenty-seven cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes have been defined, and soldier defense secretion (SDS) phenotypes have been described for 25 of these. Forty-five terpenoid compounds were found, including monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and a few diterpenes. The monoterpenes include (-)-alpha-pinene, (-)-beta-pinene, (-)-camphene, myrcene, (Z)- and (E)-ocimene, and (-)-limonene. The major sesquiterpenes produced are (+)-gamma-cadinene, (+)-gamma-cadinene aldehyde, (-)-germacrene A, germacrene B, gamma-himachalene, and beta-bisabolene. Some SDS phenotypes pair with more than one cuticular hydrocarbon phenotype; however, with two exceptions, each hydrocarbon phenotype is associated with only one SDS phenotype. These chemical characterizations lend support to the conclusion that there are numerous undescribed species of Reticulitermes in North America.