ArticleDie Naturwissenschaften2017
Sex-specific inhibition and stimulation of worker-reproductive transition in a termite.
Article in Die Naturwissenschaften, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Regulation of reproductive and behavioral plasticity in social insects.Current opinion in insect science · 2026Review
- Adaptive changes in behavioral and physiological traits during worker-reproductive transition in Reticulitermes chinensis (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Elusive workers are more likely to differentiate into replacement reproductives than aggressive workers in a lower termite.Current zoology · 2023Article
- Reproductives signature revealed by protein profiling and behavioral bioassays in termite.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- King- and queen-specific degradation of uric acid contributes to reproduction in termites.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Short and long-term costs of inbreeding in the lifelong-partnership in a termite.Communications biology · 2022Article
- Vibratory behaviour produces different vibrations patterns in presence of reproductives in a subterranean termite species.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Distinct chemical blends produced by different reproductive castes in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Reproductive Soldier Development Is Controlled by Direct Physical Interactions with Reproductive and Soldier Termites.Insects · 2021Article
- Male neotenic reproductives accelerate additional differentiation of female reproductives by lowering JH titer in termites.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Cooperative policing behaviour regulates reproductive division of labour in a termite.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Diversity of Termite Breeding Systems.Insects · 2019Review
- Chemical Fertility Signaling in Termites: Idiosyncrasies and Commonalities in Comparison with Ants.Journal of chemical ecology · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In social insects, the postembryonic development of individuals exhibits strong phenotypic plasticity in response to the environment, thus generating the caste system. Different from eusocial Hymenoptera, in which queens dominate reproduction and inhibit worker fertility, the primary reproductive caste in termites (kings and queens) can be replaced by neotenic reproductives derived from functionally sterile individuals. Feedback regulation of nestmate differentiation into reproductives has been suggested, but the sex specificity remains inconclusive. In the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, we tested the hypothesis that neotenic reproductives regulate worker-reproductive transition in a sex-specific manner. With this R. flavipes system, we demonstrate a sex-specific regulatory mechanism with both inhibitory and stimulatory functions. Neotenics inhibit workers of the same sex from differentiating into additional reproductives but stimulate workers of the opposite sex to undergo this transition. Furthermore, this process is not affected by the presence of soldiers. Our results highlight the reproductive plasticity of termites in response to social cues and provide insights into the regulation of reproductive division of labor in a hemimetabolous social insect.
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