Social Evolution: New Horizons

Cooperation is a widespread natural phenomenon yet current evolutionary thinking is dominated by the paradigm of selfish competition. Recent advanced in many fronts of Biology and Non-linear Physics are helping to bring cooperation to its proper place. In this contribution, the most important controversies and open research avenues in the field of social evolution are reviewed. It is argued that a novel theory of social evolution must integrate the concepts of the science of Complex Systems with those of the Darwinian tradition. Current gene-centric approaches should be reviewed and com- plemented with evidence from multilevel phenomena (group selection), the constrains given by the non-linear nature of biological dynamical systems and the emergent nature of dissipative phenomena.Comment: 16 pages 5 figures, chapter in forthcoming open access book "Frontiers in Ecology, Evolution and Complexity" CopIt-arXives 2014, Mexic

L\'evy flights and self-similar exploratory behaviour of termite workers: beyond model fitting

Animal movements have been related to optimal foraging strategies where self-similar trajectories are central. Most of the experimental studies done so far have focused mainly on fitting statistical models to data in order to test for movement patterns described by power-laws. Here we show by analyzing over half a million movement displacements that isolated termite workers actually exhibit a range of very interesting dynamical properties --including L\'evy flights-- in their exploratory behaviour. Going beyond the current trend of statistical model fitting alone, our study analyses anomalous diffusion and structure functions to estimate values of the scaling exponents describing displacement statistics. We evince the fractal nature of the movement patterns and show how the scaling exponents describing termite space exploration intriguingly comply with mathematical relations found in the physics of transport phenomena. By doing this, we rescue a rich variety of physical and biological phenomenology that can be potentially important and meaningful for the study of complex animal behavior and, in particular, for the study of how patterns of exploratory behaviour of individual social insects may impact not only their feeding demands but also nestmate encounter patterns and, hence, their dynamics at the social scale.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Unrevised version. Final version to appear in Plos ON

Suitable Light Regimes for Filming Termites in Laboratory Bioassays

Laboratory bioassays require strategies to minimize stress and keep animals alive as long as the test demands. Sometimes, however, experimental procedures seem notoriously stressful as, for instance, when exposing termites to the illumination needed for video recordings. Being a condition opposed to what termites naturally experience, light might easily stress such insects or might not affect them at all, as they are blind. Here we check for the effects of distinct light regimes on the survival of termites confined in a typical bioassay setup involving footage. The survival of Cornitermes cumulans (Termitidae: Syntermitinae) workers kept in the dark, or subjected to infrared or to cold white light was compared, finding no statistical difference in their survival in these three treatments. While pointing directions for further research on the reasons for such results, we conclude that video recordings of C. cumulans termite workers can be conducted under infrared or cold white LEDs, as these light regimes do not affect the survival of tested individuals

The use of tympanic arena as an alternative for behavioral vibroacoustic essays in termites (Blattodea: Isoptera).

In termites, substrate-borne vibrations play an important role in communication among nestmates. The adaptive significance of such an ability has led to an ever-increasing number of studies aimed at improving knowledge on vibroacoustic communication in these insects. Such studies are commonly carried out in laboratory arenas consisting of Petri dishes made of plastic or glass. However, the rigidness of such materials may limit the transmission of vibrational waves impairing accurate records of the feeble vibrations produced by termites. This is one of the reasons why such experiments must be carried out under strictly controlled conditions, using extremely sensitive equipment, usually connected to amplifiers. If, instead, arenas bear a flexible floor (hence simulating a tympanum), vibrations might not be dampened or even easily amplified, thereby overcoming the need for such a specialized setup. Here we test such a hypothesis, using an accelerometer to measure and record vibrations whose intensity was tailored to mimic the feeble vibrations of a small termite species, Constrictotermes cyphergaster. Results support the notion that tympanic arenas portray such vibrations far more accurately than arenas made of plastic or glass. We hence recommend this type of arena as a cheap, albeit accurate, alternative in studies of vibroacoustic behaviors of termites and other insects of comparable size, especially in situations where noise is minimally controlled. These arenas, then, can be useful in conducting such studies just after termite collection in remote regions where well-equipped labs are not available. In doing so, we minimize the stress involved in transporting termites over long distances.

Bringing Innovations to Set Up a Better Scientific Journal for Publication of Your Research

The journal Sociobiology announces the adoption of a series of editorial innovations that aim to speed up review and publication time, to select high quality articles for publication, to adopt transparent and ethical editorial standards and to reinforce the culture of open acess scientific publishing

Termite Foraging on Plants of a Brazilian Savanna: the Effects of Tree Height

Termites play an important role as ecosystem engineers in many tropical environments, acting as herbivore-detritivore organisms and strongly influencing vegetation structure and composition by modifying soil properties, providing nutrients by recycling the organic matter, and direct feeding on plants, notably in the Cerrado (Savanna) of Brazil. To evaluate the intensity of termite foraging on Cerrado plants, we recorded plants higher than 25 cm, which exhibited termite activity along nine transects (2 x 50m), at the Estação Ecológica de Pirapitinga (EEP), in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. We recorded the height, basal area, and identified the species of each plant. Simultaneously, we used cellulose baits disposed at each 10 m along six transects of 100 m to sample termites in this area, which was protected from fire for at least 40 years. Twelve species of termites were recorded. Termite foraging on Cerrado plant species varied considerably and it was influenced by several factors including plant height and host species. Taller plants presented more termites than smaller plants, probably due to the amount of available resources (for nesting and feeding) for the termites