A study of the biological interaction among social insects on the rainforest canopy in Southeast Asia

在本项目中，研究了热带雨林树冠上的三个主要相互作用，以阐明这三个生物相互作用的维持和机制。白蚁-白蚁的相互作用对白蚁及其在森林地面、雨林树冠和中间地带的生态功能进行了评价。并对白蚁的物质迁移能力进行了研究。这些结果表明，冠层中也存在相当数量的白蚁，且各地区的白蚁有其不同的聚集型。某些种类的白蚁具有广泛的垂直分布和从地面到树冠的运输能力。植物-蚂蚁与食虫蟑螂的相互作用在婆罗洲的双翅果树林冠上调查了两种附生蕨类植物：Platycerum和Lecanopteris、Crematogaster diformis Ant和Pusoanapplectinia yumotoi Cockroache。还进行了蚂蚁和蟑螂的行为学实验和化学分析。从行为学实验来看，yumotoi是异形华支睾吸虫群体中唯一和最突出的嗜粉菌者。用GC和GC-MS分析了Yumotoi和C.difformis的CHCs。这些结果表明，P yumotoi以一种独特而未知的方式成功地穿透了宿主蚂蚁群体，异形蚂蚁也有一种独特的方式来识别其他蚂蚁个体。白蚁与蚂蚁的相互作用在大量白蚁加工的现场观察中，我们发现了一些明显的证据，表明士兵们站在一边完全控制了加工工人的流动。对士兵头提取液进行化学分析和野外及实验室生物测定，发现部分倍半萜类化合物为候选或圈闭信息素。

In this project, 3 major interactions on the rainforest canopy were investigated to clarify the maintenance and mechanism of there biological interactions.1. Termites-termites interactionsAssessment of termites and their ecological function on the forest floor, the rainforest canopy and intermediate area were carried out in dipterocarp forest. Material transportation ability of termites was also investigated. All these results show that there are considerable amount of termites exist also in the canopy and termites of each area have its own assemblage pattern. Certain termite species have wide range of vertical distribution and transportation ability from the ground level to the canopy.2. Plant-ants and myrmecophilious cockroaches interactionsTwo epiphytic ferns, Platycerium and Lecanopteris, Crematogaster difformis ant, and Pseudoanaplectinia yumotoi cockroache were investigated in dipterocarp forest canopy in Borneo. The behavioral experiments and chemical analysis of ants and cockroaches were also carried out. From the behavioral experiments, it suggests that P. yumotoi is the only and prominent myrmecophile on C. difformis colonies. We analyzed CHCs of P yumotoi and C. difformis using GC and GC-MS. These results suggest that P yumotoi has succeeded to penetrate host ant colony in a unique and unknown manner, and the ant C. difformis also have a unique way to recognize the other ant individuals.3. Termites-ants interactionsUnder the field observation of huge processing of the termite, We found some clear evidences that the soldiers stand aside completely control the stream of processing workers. Chemical analysis of the soldier head extract and field and laboratory bioassay was conducted to reproduce the behavior of the workers, some sesquiterpen compounds was found to be the candidate or the enclosure pheromone.