Exploitation of Different Resources Results in Modification of the Foraging Behavior of Constrictotermes Cyphergaster in the Brazilian Semiarid

Animals adopt different strategies for establishing equilibrium between the efforts they expend obtaining food resources and the resulting nutritional returns. The cost–benefit threshold of efforts spent and energy obtained is essential to know – but the analysis of lesser-used resources can result in discoveries of other dietary demands that influence their behavior. The termite Constrictotermes cyphergaster has a varied diet, but dead wood is its main food resource. The consumption of living tree bark by that same species has been reported, although the importance of that resource is still unknown. This study investigated how different resources, and their different nutrient contents, affect the trail lengths and foraging times of C. cyphergaster as a function of harvesting heights on trees, and sought to determine if different efforts are required to consume those resources as well as if they are related to specific nutrient contents. We identified significant variations in potassium and magnesium contents as a function of resource height. Termites spent less time, and traveled lesser distances, to consume resources on the ground than they did for harvesting material from live trees. The fact that termites expended less effort harvesting the bark and twigs of live trees led us to hypothesize that they are consumed for their potassium contents and not to fulfill energetic demands.