Materials Included In Kit

Additional Materials Required

Safety Precautions

Always treat live organisms with respect and proper care. Wash hands thoroughly before leaving the lab. Follow all laboratory safety guidelines. Please review current Safety Data Sheets for additional safety, handling and disposal information.

Disposal

Please consult your current Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference Manual for general guidelines and specific procedures, and review all federal, state and local regulations that may apply, before proceeding. Never release live animals into the local environment. They may harbor pathogens that could decimate the local population. Deceased animals may be disposed of according to Flinn Suggested Biological Waste Disposal Method Type IV. 

Lab Hints

• Enough materials are provided in this Super Value Kit for 5 classes of 30 students working in pairs (75 total student groups). The laboratory work for this experiment can reasonably be completed in one 50-minute lab period with proper preparation. The most important element for success in an inquiry-based activity is student preparation. Sufficient class time should be allotted before lab to think through the measurements that must be made and how the experiment should be conducted.
• Place many different kinds of writing instruments, paper, and other supplies out for students to choose from for their experimental design.
• Some teachers tell us that for an inquiry-based lab, they require the students to submit their proposed procedures a week before the lab. The teachers then check the procedures and return the proofed copies to the students the day before the lab. This ensures that students are prepared and that teachers have time to supervise the actual lab activity, not proof the procedures, during lab time.

Teacher Tips

• Termites purchased from Flinn Scientific are not able to reproduce. Termite colonies attack members of another colony so any escapees will perish from attack or dehydration.
• Termites are unable to digest cellulose without the assistance of symbiotic gut microbes. Extend the lesson by discussing this relationship, then use the same termites as the lab specimens for that lab activity. For more information contact Flinn Scientific.
• For furthur information regarding proper termite care, contact Flinn Scientific for Publication No. 11225, Care of Termites.

Answers to Prelab Questions

1. Except for the young reproductive alates, termites exhibit negative phototaxis and will try to avoid bright areas. Termites also dehydrate easily. Describe how you will protect the termite between trials.

   Termites should be kept on damp filter paper inside a closed Petri dish and covered with a paper towel between trials.

2. Determine which behavior, environmental condition or paper, ink or pencil variable your group would like to test. After obtaining approval from your teacher, you will be designing a controlled experiment to determine how your variable affects the behavior of a worker or soldier termite. Consider the following questions (possible experimental conditions to test include but are not limited to):
   1. Different types of ink, paint or pencils.

      Termites will follow trails made using classic ballpoint pens made by Bic^®, Scripto^® or PaperMate^®. The color of the ink is irrelevant.

   2. Different types of paper or colors of paper.

      The color and type of paper will not affect the termite’s behavior.

   3. Writing on the underside of the paper.

      The thickness of the paper may affect the termite’s behavior. The ink’s pheromone mimic may not penetrate through the fibers. For example, poster board or waxed paper would affect the ability of the pheromone mimic to diffuse through the paper.

   4. Spaces, dashes or numerous crossing lines on the paper.

      The number of crossing lines will not affect the termite’s behavior. Termites will show random taxis between lines or dashes if spaced too far apart for the termite to detect the pheromone mimic.

   5. Bright light and shaded areas on the paper. Will the termite follow the pheromone mimic or avoid the bright area?

      The termite’s behavior may change mid-experiment depending upon their level of dehydration.

   6. The amount of time between drawing the line and the discontinuation of trail following.

      The pheromone mimic in the ink will fade over time. Students should be able to determine the duration of the pheromone mimic for their termite. It should be several minutes unless the termite becomes dehydrated.

Answers to Questions

1. List any changes to the experimental procedure that should be included if this hypothesis were retested.

   Student answers will vary. Examples of changes include adding more humidity or reducing light to the experimental testing area.

2. List two additional questions that came about because of your experiment.

   Student answers will vary. Examples of additional questions include testing other castes within the same colony, testing other colonies or species of termites.

Introduction

Reticulitermes flavipes is just one of several species of subterranean termites native to North America. Termites are an important part of the decomposer food chain as they help decompose cellulose into nutrients that enter the soil

Concepts

• Animal behavior
• Communication
• Pheromones

Background

Subterranean termites have a complex caste system characteristic of a eusocial species. Each member of the colony must be able to communicate to other colony members in order for the entire colony to thrive. Termites use pheromones, vibrations, and physical contact to communicate with each other. Termites move around and bump into each other and the sides of the colony to transmit alarm to the other members of the colony and to bring soldiers to that area. Pheromones are also used to transmit alarm. Termites produce many different pheromones but they all are either volatile or contact type. Volatile pheromones disperse quickly. For example, the nestmate pheromone which is excreted between two termites to show they are from the same colony. Contact pheromones are transmitted by touch and by excreting these longer-lasting pheromones on the ground. Contact-pheromone mimics are used as bait by exterminators.

The soldier and worker castes both produce and respond to contact pheromones as they venture beyond the colony’s tunnels and chambers. A chemical found in some inks mimics one of the contact pheromones excreted by worker and soldier termites. We exploit these mimics in this activity but also for less scientific purposes For example, a contact pheromone mimic is used as termite bait. Workers who are foraging for food locate the bait and transmit the location of the bait using a contact pheromone to lay a trail back to the colony. The workers then unknowingly feed the poison to the other members of the colony and other workers follow the trail to the bait to bring back more “food.”

Contact pheromones eventually dissipate so each termite that successfully follows the trail lays down another layer of pheromones as it returns to the colony. If the termite did not locate food, moisture or building materials, no new pheromones are deposited so the trail eventually fades and the termites stop following it.

Experiment Overview

Observe termite behavior as it follows a contact pheromone mimic. Determine factors that affect the ability of the termite to follow the trail.

Materials

Prelab Questions

1. Except for the young reproductive alates, termites exhibit negative phototaxis and will try to avoid bright areas. Termites also dehydrate easily. Describe how you will protect the termite between trials.
2. Determine which behavior, environmental condition, or paper, ink or pencil variable your group would like to test. After obtaining approval from your teacher, you will be designing a controlled experiment to determine how your variable affects the behavior of a worker or soldier termite. Consider the following questions:
   1. The independent variable in an experiment is the variable that is changed by the experimenter, while the dependent variable responds to (depends on) changes in the independent variable. Choose the dependent and independent variables for your proposed experiment.
   2. What other variables will affect the results in this experiment? How can these variables be controlled? For example, how will you control the environmental condition surrounding the termite? Do not forget to control the effect on other lab groups.
   3. How will you measure the effect your variable has on termite behavior? How will these measurements be made? What will the data table look like?
   4. Write a step-by-step procedure for the experiment, including any additional safety precautions that must be followed for your specific experiment.
   5. Review your experimental plan with your teacher before you proceed.

Safety Precautions

Always treat live organisms with respect and proper care. Termites exhibit negative phototaxis and will dehydrate quickly. Do not allow any termites to escape the testing area. Wash hands thoroughly before leaving the lab. Follow all laboratory safety guidelines.

Student Worksheet PDF

11258_Student1.pdf