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Food habits of sympatric termite species (Isoptera, Macrotermitinae) as determined by stable carbon isotope analysis in a Guinean savanna (Lamto, Côte d'Ivoire)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Michel Lepage ,
Luc Abbadie  and
Andre Mariotti
Michel Lepage
Affiliation:
Ecole Normale Supérieure, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, CNRS, URA 258, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France
Luc Abbadie
Affiliation:
Ecole Normale Supérieure, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, CNRS, URA 258, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France
Andre Mariotti
Affiliation:
Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Laboratoire de Biogéochimie Isotopique, INRA – CNRS, URA 196, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
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Abstract

The food habits of four hypogeous Macrotermitinae species were studied using stable carbon isotope analysis in several biotopes of a humid savanna of West Africa (Lamto, Côte d'Ivoire). The proportion of woody and herbaceous material in the diet of the different species was determined by measuring the 13C natural abundance in the fungus comb. The diet varied with season and biotope, especially tree density. The results confirm the flexibility of the food habits of the fungus-growing termites as a consequence of their exosymbiosis with the fungus Termitomyces sp.

Keywords

carbonCôte d'Ivoireδ13Cfood habitsfungus growing termitesIsopteranitrogensavannatermitesTermitomyces
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , August 1993 , pp. 303 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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