Poster Session
Location
Memorial Ballroom, Hall Campus Center
Access Type
Open Access
Entry Number
24
Start Date
4-10-2019 12:00 PM
End Date
4-10-2019 1:15 PM
College
Lynchburg College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Biology
Abstract
Termites follow chemical trails. In previous experiments we dissolved and diluted chemicals in acetone to test if they elicited trail following. Each trail was a straight line across the arena drawn with 10 µl using a glass capillary (Microcaps). We noticed a minor but stable response to trails laid with pure acetone. The response could be caused by contaminated acetone or by a chemical in the filter paper (Watman #5) that lined our arena (petri dish, 10cm diameter). We could confirm that the termites respond to acetone alone. Soxkhlet extraction for 8 hours removed the signal from the filter paper. The behaviorally active substance could be reintroduced to the clean filter paper by laying a trail with the acetone that cleaned the filter paper. We started to identify the chemical eliciting the response by comparing GCMS traces of the acetone as bought (Sigma Aldrich) with the acetone after cleaning the filter paper. There are differences between these traces, however the mass spectra were not clear enough to identify a specific chemical.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Jürgen Ziesmann
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Included in
Analytical Chemistry Commons, Biology Commons, Entomology Commons
A Chemical in Filter Paper Interferes with Trail Following Behavior in the Termite Reticulitermes Hesperus (Banks)
Memorial Ballroom, Hall Campus Center
Termites follow chemical trails. In previous experiments we dissolved and diluted chemicals in acetone to test if they elicited trail following. Each trail was a straight line across the arena drawn with 10 µl using a glass capillary (Microcaps). We noticed a minor but stable response to trails laid with pure acetone. The response could be caused by contaminated acetone or by a chemical in the filter paper (Watman #5) that lined our arena (petri dish, 10cm diameter). We could confirm that the termites respond to acetone alone. Soxkhlet extraction for 8 hours removed the signal from the filter paper. The behaviorally active substance could be reintroduced to the clean filter paper by laying a trail with the acetone that cleaned the filter paper. We started to identify the chemical eliciting the response by comparing GCMS traces of the acetone as bought (Sigma Aldrich) with the acetone after cleaning the filter paper. There are differences between these traces, however the mass spectra were not clear enough to identify a specific chemical.