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by Nobuaki Mizumoto (水元 惟暁), Naohisa Nagaya (永谷 直久), and Ryusuke Fujisawa (藤澤 隆介)
Mizumoto et al. reveal that limited energy reduces termite search efficiency but that they compensate for it by lowering partner selectivity. Their study shows animals can't always achieve optimal search strategies, but can adjust their decision-making accordingly...
Imagine you are searching for a soulmate, and you have only a few days remaining to live with a declining energy reserve… Sound stressful? Welcome to the life of termites following their dispersal flights. A new study performed by Dr. Nobuaki Mizumoto and colleagues finds that termites (Reticulitermes speratus) are choosy when they initiate mate searches, but rapidly shift strategies as their energy supplies start to dwindle, settling on the first available partner. The study highlights how diminishing reserves can change search strategies, changing the choosy termite into the pragmatic partner. The work fills in an unexplored gap in search theory by considering the internal condition of the searcher.
Following termite dispersal flights, reproductive individuals shed their wings and search for a mate on foot with limited energy. In general, random search theory predicts that animals searching for mates should ideally maximize their encounter rate. However, this research shows that internal states—such as energy depletion—can push real-world behavior away from optimal searching toward a more flexible strategy.
The researchers monitored termite movement on a specialized omnidirectional "servosphere" treadmill and recorded how search patterns shifted over several days. Immediately following flights, termites were speedy and efficient, pausing very little. By the third day, though, the researchers noticed they had slowed considerably and took frequent breaks. To see how these changes affected encounter rates, researchers ran simulations that showed that termites in the low-energy mode had a lower chance of finding an ideal mate, settling instead for any partner as time passed. Additionally, long searches had fitness costs beyond the energetic ones; termites that searched for longer had reduced survival and lower offspring output than those that paired quickly.
Traditional models for the study of animal search strategies have often assumed that the animals are always behaving optimally. However, this study illustrates how a flexible switch between strategies can help animals cope with internal constraints. By considering the internal state of the individuals, the study provides a more realistic and naturalistic understanding of how animals balance survival and mate choice. The researchers were happy to be able to share these perspectives, especially after an unexpected loss of data and further recovery using data recovery services, underscoring the importance of data backup in science.
By showing how internal energy reserves can influence mate search and choice, termites provide a really fascinating example of real-world search behavior that adapts to both internal and external pressures. Termites remind us that when time runs out, and survival and reproduction get priority, the ideal partner is simply the one you happen to be lucky enough to find.
Purbayan Ghosh is a PhD student working in the lab of Prof. Stephen Pratt at Arizona State University, USA. His research focuses on how behavior and physiology come together during nest site selection in the rock crevice nesting ant Temnothorax rugatulus. When not looking at ants, he enjoys travelling to new places, hiking, playing sports, or hunting down the best food spots in the town.