Marking through molts: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species
dc.contributor.author | Padget, RFB | |
dc.contributor.author | Thompson, FJ | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-08-19T09:24:30Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2021-08-18 | |
dc.description.abstract | Advances in individual marking methods have facilitated detailed studies of animal populations and behavior as they allow tracking of individuals through time and space. Hemimetabolous insects, representing a wide range of commonly used model organisms, present a unique challenge to individual marking as they are not only generally small-bodied, but also molt throughout development, meaning that traditional surface marks are not persistent. Visible implant elastomer (VIE) offers a potential solution as small amounts of the inert polymer can be implanted under the skin or cuticle of an animal. VIE has proved useful for individually marking fish, crustaceans, and amphibians in both field and laboratory studies and has recently been successfully trialed in laboratory populations of worms and fly larvae. We trialed VIE in the single-piece nesting termite Zootermopsis angusticollis, a small hemimetabolous insect. We found that there was no effect of VIE on survival and that marks persisted following molting. However, we found some evidence that marked termites performed less allogrooming and trophallaxis than controls, although effect sizes were very small. Our study suggests that VIE is an effective technique for marking small hemimetabolous insects like termites but we advocate that caution is applied, particularly when behavioral observation is important. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 18 August 2021 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1002/ece3.8030 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/126815 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Wiley / European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) / Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) | en_GB |
dc.relation.url | https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fn2z34tv3 | en_GB |
dc.relation.url | https://github.com/beckypadget/vie-trials | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | en_GB |
dc.subject | hemimetabolous insects | en_GB |
dc.subject | individual marking | en_GB |
dc.subject | social insects | en_GB |
dc.subject | termites | en_GB |
dc.subject | visible implant elastomer | en_GB |
dc.title | Marking through molts: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2021-08-19T09:24:30Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 2045-7758 | |
exeter.article-number | ece3.8030 | en_GB |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this record | en_GB |
dc.description | Data availability statement: Data used in this paper are available on Dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fn2z34tv3). Code for statistical models is available at https://github.com/beckypadget/vie-trials. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Ecology and Evolution | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2021-07-26 | |
rioxxterms.funder | Natural Environment Research Council | en_GB |
rioxxterms.identifier.project | NE/S000046/1 | en_GB |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2021-08-18 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2021-08-19T09:21:15Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | VoR | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2021-08-19T09:24:46Z | |
refterms.panel | A | en_GB |
rioxxterms.funder.project | b9342ac1-67b8-4b99-803d-2d560e3acc2e | en_GB |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.