1974] 
Nutting , Blum, & Fales — T enuirostritermes 
173 
They lay very quiet, moving their appendages but little even when 
prodded. Their struggles were very feeble after 1.5 hr, while only 
occasional, slow contractions could be elicited after 4 hr. They ap- 
peared essentially dead after 5-6 hr. By comparison, normal ants, 
similarly confined without food or water, remained so for 5-10 hr, 
showed postural difficulties after 10-12 hr, responded vigorously to 
prodding for as long as 24 hr, and did not appear to be dead until 
24-33 hr after confinement. 
Chemical A nalyses. — Three compounds accounted for over 90% 
of the low boiling volatile compounds which were detected in the 
extracts of the soldiers. Based on the congruencies of their gas- 
chromatographic retention times and mass spectra, the volatiles were 
identified as a-pinene, myrcene, and limonene. The mole percentages 
of the compounds were: a-pinene 62%, myrcene 27%, and limonene 
11%. None of these monoterpene hydrocarbons was detected in the 
extracts of the workers. 
Discussion 
Ernst (1959) was inclined to believe that the frontal gland secre- 
tion of soldiers of a N asutitermes sp. from the Ivory Coast was 
essentially non-toxic and that it functioned primarily to entangle its 
enemies. He did not rule out the possibility of an insecticidal effect. 
Considering that normal worker ants survived without food or water 
4 to 6 times as long as those immobilized by the T. tenuirostris sol- 
dier secretion, we feel that the terpenoid components of its secretion 
are definitely toxic. 
Ernst also observed that the secretion fired by one of his Nasuti- 
termes soldiers stimulated nearby soldiers to fire, thus suggesting 
that it contains volatiles which act as an alarm pheromone. On the 
basis of his own work with several Australian species of N asutitermes, 
Moore (1969) has suggested that a-pinene might serve as such a 
pheromone. This compound probably serves a similar function in 
T rinervitermes geminatus Wasmann (Nasutitermitinae) according 
to Quennedey (1973). Although we have not investigated this point, 
our observations suggest that any such alarm signal in the secretion 
of T. tenuirostris must act very briefly indeed. In a number of 
laboratory encounters between soldiers and free ants, several soldiers 
might fire once each on a single ant within a few seconds; however, 
late arrivals usually examined the resulting immobilized ants, but 
never fired on them. 
