Revisiting absent trails: Spatial memory of trail pheromones in termites.

Λεπτομέρειες βιβλιογραφικής εγγραφής
Τίτλος:	Revisiting absent trails: Spatial memory of trail pheromones in termites.
Συγγραφείς:	Ohzawa Y; Global Education Center, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan., Gunji YP; Department of Intermedia Art and Science, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
Πηγή:	PloS one [PLoS One] 2026 Aug 12; Vol. 21 (8), pp. e0355468. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Aug 12 (Print Publication: 2026).
Τύπος έκδοσης:	Journal Article
Γλώσσα:	English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού:	Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):	Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH):	Isoptera/physiology , Pheromones/pharmacology , Spatial Memory/physiology , Spatial Memory/drug effects, Animals
Περίληψη:	Termites are social insects that coordinate cooperative behavior through pheromones. Trail pheromones play a central role in foraging and recruitment. Traditionally, termite navigation has often been modeled as a reflexive response to the current gradient of pheromone concentration, implying a stimulus-driven, taxon-type mechanism without necessarily requiring internal spatial representation. However, it remains unclear whether termites can form and utilize spatial information about the location of chemical cues. In this study, we investigated whether previous contact with a trail pheromone can bias termite movement after the pheromone-marked substrate has been removed. In the primary immediate test, entries into the exact target-side circle were not significantly higher in the pheromone condition, indicating that the effect was not a strong immediate return to a precise point. However, across the extended test phase, pheromone-exposed termites showed more entries and inward excursions toward the area where artificial trail pheromone had previously been presented, especially when broader target zones were considered. Together, these results suggest that termites can retain or use coarse spatial information about a previously encountered trail-pheromone cue, resulting in broad spatial bias rather than accurate point revisitation. Our findings extend the traditional view of trail pheromones as purely immediate stimuli by suggesting that pheromone experience can influence later movement after cue removal. This provides a cautious basis for considering how chemical cues may contribute to locale-like navigation in termites. (Copyright: © 2026 Ohzawa, Gunji. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Competing Interests:	The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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Substance Nomenclature:	0 (Pheromones)
Entry Date(s):	Date Created: 20260812 Date Completed: 20260812 Latest Revision: 20260814
Update Code:	20260814
PubMed Central ID:	PMC13466029
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0355468
PMID:	42585246
Βάση Δεδομένων:	MEDLINE

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Περιγραφή
ISSN:	1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0355468