Euonymus hamiltonianus Extract Improves Amnesia in APPswe/Tau Transgenic and Scopolamine-Induced Dementia Models.

Dementia is a syndrome exhibiting progressive impairments on cognition and behavior beyond the normal course of aging, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the neurodegenerative diseases known to cause dementia. We investigated the effect of KGC07EH, the 30% ethanol extract of Euonymus hamiltonianus, against amyloid-ß (Aß) production and cognitive dysfunction in dementia models. KGC07EH was treated on Hela cells expressing the Swedish mutant form of amyloid precursor protein (APP), and the AD triple transgenic (3× TG) mice were given KGC07EH orally during 11-14 months of age (100 and 300 mg/kg/day). SH-SY5Y cell line was used to test KGC07EH on scopolamine-induced elevation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. ICR mice were intraperitoneally injected with scopolamine, and KGC07EH was administered orally (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks. KGC07EH treatment decreased Aß, sAPPß-sw, and sAPPß-wt levels and APP protein expressions while sAPPα was increased in Swedish mutant-transfected HeLa cells. KGC07EH treatment also significantly reduced the accumulation of Aß plaques and tau tangles in the brain of 3× TG mice as well as improving the cognitive function. In SH-SY5Y cells cultured with scopolamine, KGC07EH dose-dependently attenuated the increase of AChE activity. KGC07EH also improved scopolamine-induced learning and memory impairment in scopolamine-injected mice, and in their cerebral cortex and hippocampus, the expression levels of p-ERK, p-CREB, p-Akt, and BDNF were attenuated. KGC07EH inhibits APP processing and Aß production both in vitro and in vivo, while enhancing acetylcholine signaling and cognitive dysfunction which are the major symptoms of dementia.

Feeding cessation after feeding on 20-hydroxyecdysone in the Formosan subterranean termite.

BACKGROUND: To control subterranean termite pests, chitin synthesis inhibitor (CSI) baits have been widely applied. Despite CSI baits having low impacts on the environment, they require a lengthy time period to eliminate colonies. 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) was proposed to speed up the baiting process as it showed faster mortality than CSI baits. However, the efficacy of 20E has previously not been tested at the colony level prior to applying in the field. RESULTS: We compared the effect of 20E, 20E + noviflumuron, noviflumuron and untreated control using colonies of Coptotermes formosanus. Our result revealed that both 20E and 20E + noviflumuron did not accelerate colony elimination and termite activity remained relatively stable during the observation periods. To determine the limited effects of 20E, we further investigated feeding duration and consumption amount of 20E with different concentrations (control, 100 and 1000 ppm) for 10 days. Termites ceased feeding after 1 day in 100 and 1000 ppm treatment and 100% mortality was observed within 10 days in 1000 ppm 20E, while mortality in the 100 ppm 20E treated group was much lower than that in the 1000 ppm group. Furthermore, no termites molted in the control and termites died from hyperecdysonism in 1000 ppm 20E treatment, whereas about 20% of termites molted in 100 ppm 20E. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that 20E may not be suitable as a sole active ingredient to accelerate elimination of a subterranean termite colony, while CSI baits and lower concentrations of 20E may reduce the lengthy time period in colony elimination. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Agarperoxinols A and B: Two Unprecedented Tricyclic 6/6/7 Rearranged Humulene-Type Sesquiterpenoids That Attenuated the Neuroinflammation in LPS-Stimulated Microglial Models.

Agarperoxinols A and B (1-2), two naturally occurring humulene-type sesquiterpenoids with an unprecedented tricyclic 6/6/7 ring, were discovered from the agarwood of Aquilaria malaccensis. Their structures were unambiguously determined by various spectroscopic data, experimental ECD calculations, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Agarperoxinol B showed significant and dose-dependent neuroinflammatory inhibitory effects on various proinflammatory mediators, including NO, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß, and suppressed iNOS and COX-2 enzymes in LPS-activated microglial cells. A mechanistic study demonstrated that agarperoxinol B remarkably inhibited the phosphorylation of the Akt and JNK signaling pathways. Agarperoxinol B also significantly reduced the expression of the microglial markers Iba-1, COX-2, and TNF-α in the mouse cerebral cortex. Our findings introduce a bioactive compound from natural products that decreases proinflammatory factor production and has application for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

New distribution of Reticulitermes speratus speratus (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) in Korea.

Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe) is economically important pest in East Asia including Korea, Japan, and China where they infest wooden structures in urban areas. Previously, it has been reported that R. speratus consists of 5 subspecies, R. speratus kyushuensis Morimoto, R. speratus speratus Kolbe, R. speratus leptolabralis Morimoto, R. speratus okinawanus Morimoto, R. speratus yaeyamanus Morimoto, while only R. speratus kyushuensis was recorded in Korea in the past. However, it remains elusive if different subspecies of R. speratus other than R. speratus kyushuensis are present in Korea. In this study, we report the first record of R. speratus speratus from Korea, which was verified using soldier morphology and molecular characteristics obtained from a mitochondrial gene. R. speratus speratus Kolbe, 1885 (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) are found in several provinces, mainly southern regions in Korea, whereas R. speratus kyushuensis are distributed throughout the country. Our morphological comparison showed that R. speratus speratus can be distinguishable from R. speratus kyushuensis by the ratio of the posterior postmentum width to length. In the molecular comparison, R. speratus speratus revealed genetic differences of 3.06% (range 2.60-4.10%) from R. speratus kyushuensis using cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene sequences.

A comparison of tunnel geometry between the Formosan subterranean termite and the Asian subterranean termite (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae).

BACKGROUND: Stake surveys and in-ground monitoring stations have been widely used to study field populations of many subterranean termite species, but thus far they have never been intercepted by the invasive Asian subterranean termite, Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann), in southeastern Florida. To investigate the reasons for the inability of C. gestroi to intercept these in-ground monitoring devices, we compared its tunnel geometry with that of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. Two-year-old incipient colonies of both species confined in simulated structural infestations were connected to planar arenas containing four wooden discs. RESULTS: Coptotermes formosanus colonies constructed more abundant and more complex tunnel networks and intercepted more wooden discs than C. gestroi. C. formosanus propagated shorter primary tunnels and longer secondary tunnels with more branching frequency than C. gestroi, and probably adopted an area searching strategy to search for food in an area before moving on to other areas. In comparison, C. gestroi used a distance searching strategy by constructing linear and long primary tunnels to search for food at distance. CONCLUSIONS: Because tunnels of C. gestroi were less abundant and they tend to travel straight for some distance, they may have bypassed survey stakes or in-ground monitoring stations that are sparsely distributed in soil. The tunnel geometry of C. gestroi may explain why none of these in-ground monitoring devices has been intercepted by this species in southeastern Florida. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effects of the surface irregularity of termite tunnels on food transport efficiency: a simulation study.

Termites are believed to have evolved in a way that optimizes their foraging efficiency, which involves both searching for food and transporting it efficiently. Although the search efficiency has been well-studied through tunnel pattern analysis, transport efficiency has received limited attention due to the challenges of directly observing behavior that is highly influenced by environmental conditions. In this study, we introduce an individual-based model to simulate transport behavior and examine transport efficiency (E) by considering the tunnel surface irregularities and curvature, which are critical environmental factors. The model is characterized by four control variables: tunnel curvature (k1), termite stopping time at irregularity sites (k2), irregularity distribution (k3), and irregularity density (k4). The simulation results indicate that as k1 increases, E decreases, while k3 has little impact on E. The impact of k4 on E is decisive; when k4 ≤ 6, an increase in k4 results in increased traffic jam frequency and a faster reduction in E. However, when k4 > 6, the jamming frequency is not significantly affected, reducing the decrease in E. k2 strongly contributes to reducing E without significantly affecting the frequency. In the discussion section, we explore potential mechanisms that termites use to maintain transport efficiency in heterogeneous soils, and discuss how to improve the model to better reflect real-termite systems.

Exuviae Recycling Can Enhance Queen Oviposition and Colony Growth in Subterranean Termites (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae: Coptotermes).

Wood-feeding termites have a nitrogen-poor diet and have therefore evolved nitrogen conservation strategies. However, termite workers molt periodically, and throughout the lifetime of a colony, millions of exuviae, a nitrogen-rich resource, are produced by the colony. In Coptotermes Wasmann, workers foraging at remote feeding sites must return to the central part of the nest to molt, where the queen, king, eggs, and larvae are located. It was hypothesized that this molting-site fidelity is an efficient way to recycle nitrogen for reproduction and colony growth, as nestmates involved in exuviae consumption can directly transfer such resources to individuals engaged in reproduction (the queen) or growth (larvae). This study investigates whether incipient colonies of C. gestroi (Wasmann) can gain additional biomass when they are fed supplementary exuviae. Incipient colonies were reared in nitrogen-poor or nitrogen-rich conditions, and 0, 1, 5, or 10 exuviae were added to 3-month-old colonies. After 6.5 months, colonies reared in nitrogen-poor environments gained significantly more biomass when exuviae were added than colonies with no added exuviae. However, the addition of exuviae had no effect on colony growth for colonies reared in nitrogen-rich environments. In a second experiment, queens from colonies in which exuviae were effectively removed laid fewer eggs than queens from colonies in which exuviae were not removed. Therefore, consumption of exuviae from molting individuals by nestmates is an important part of the nitrogen recycling strategy in Coptotermes colonies, as it facilitates queen oviposition and colony growth, especially when such colonies have limited access to nitrogen-rich soils.

Equivalent Colony Growth of Hybrids of Two Invasive Coptotermes Species Can Threaten Urban Areas.

Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and C. gestroi (Wasmann) are economically important structural pests in urban areas. Due to anthropogenic activity, both species have been introduced into the United States, with their respective invasive ranges now overlapping in Florida, and the two species have the capability to hybridize. The potential for structural damage from subterranean termite colonies primarily depends on colony size. However, long-term colony growth and wood consumption capabilities of hybrid Coptotermes colonies remain to be investigated, to determine the potential pest status of field-established hybrid colonies. In this study, we investigated long-term colony development over four years to determine if aging hybrid colonies display vigor in terms of colony growth. In addition, we compared wood consumption rate of hybrid colonies to compare their potential impact as structural pests with the two parental species. In aging colonies (four-year-old), both hybrid mating types displayed a colony growth equivalent to C. formosanus. However, the wood consumption rates of four-year-old colonies of the two parental Coptotermes species and their hybrids were similar, indicating equal damaging potential. We also found multiple secondary reproductives in hybrid colonies, even in the presence of primary reproductives, which may favor their potential establishment and spread. Although hybrid colonies or hybrid alates have yet to be detected in the field, our results suggest that such hybrid colonies would be an additional termite threat in the future if they were established in the field.

Sinapic Acid Ameliorates REV-ERB α Modulated Mitochondrial Fission against MPTP-Induced Parkinson's Disease Model.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, and accumulating evidence indicates that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with progressive deterioration in PD patients. Previous studies have shown that sinapic acid has a neuroprotective effect, but its mechanisms of action remain unclear. The neuroprotective effect of sinapic acid was assayed in a PD mouse model generated by the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) as well as in SH-SY5Y cells. Target protein expression was detected by western blotting. Sinapic acid treatment attenuated the behavioral defects and loss of dopaminergic neurons in the PD models. Sinapic acid also improved mitochondrial function in the PD models. MPTP treatment increased the abundance of mitochondrial fission proteins such as dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and phospho-Drp1 Ser616. In addition, MPTP decreased the expression of the REV-ERB α protein. These changes were attenuated by sinapic acid treatment. We used the pharmacological REV-ERB α inhibitor SR8278 to confirmation of protective effect of sinapic acid. Treatment of SR8278 with sinapic acid reversed the protein expression of phospho-Drp1 Ser616 and REV-ERB α on MPTP-treated mice. Our findings demonstrated that sinapic acid protects against MPTP-induced PD and these effects might be related to the inhibiting abnormal mitochondrial fission through REV-ERB α.

Age-based spatial distribution of workers is resilient to worker loss in a subterranean termite.

Elaborate task allocation is key to the ecological success of eusocial insects. Termite colonies are known for exhibiting age polyethism, with older instars more likely to depart the reproductive center to access food. However, it remains unknown how termites retain this spatial structure against external disturbances. Here we show that a subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki combines age polyethism and behavioral flexibility to maintain a constant worker proportion at the food area. Since this termite inhabits multiple wood pieces by connecting them through underground tunnels, disastrous colony splitting events can result in the loss of colony members. We simulated this via weekly removal of all individuals at the food area. Our results showed that termites maintained a worker proportion of ~ 20% at the food area regardless of changes in total colony size and demographic composition, where younger workers replaced food acquisition functions to maintain a constant worker proportion at the food area. Food consumption analysis revealed that the per-capita food consumption rate decreased with younger workers, but the colony did not compensate for the deficiency by increasing the proportion of workers at the feeding site. These results suggest that termite colonies prioritize risk management of colony fragmentation while maintaining suitable food acquisition efficiency with the next available workers in the colony, highlighting the importance of task allocation for colony resiliency under fluctuating environments.

Differential time allocation of foraging workers in the subterranean termite.

BACKGROUND: Foraging in group living animals such as social insects, is collectively performed by individuals. However, our understanding on foraging behavior of subterranean termites is extremely limited, as the process of foraging in the field is mostly concealed. Because of this limitation, foraging behaviors of subterranean termites were indirectly investigated in the laboratory through tunnel geometry analysis and observations on tunneling behaviors. In this study, we tracked subsets of foraging workers from juvenile colonies of Coptotermes formosanus (2-yr-old) to describe general foraging behavioral sequences and to find how foraging workers allocate time between the foraging site (food acquisition or processing) and non-foraging site (food transportation). RESULTS: Once workers entered into the foraging site, they spent, on average, a significantly longer time at the foraging site than the non-foraging site. Our clustering analysis revealed two different types of foraging workers in the subterranean termite based on the duration of time they spent at the foraging site and their foraging frequency. After entering the foraging site, some workers (cluster 1) immediately initiated masticating wood fragments, which they transferred as food boluses to recipient workers at the foraging site. Conversely, the recipient workers (cluster 2) moved around after entering the foraging site and received food from donating workers. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of task specialization within foraging cohorts in subterranean termites.

Queen Egg Laying and Egg Hatching Abilities are Hindered in Subterranean Termite Colonies When Exposed to a Chitin Synthesis Inhibitor Bait Formulation.

Subterranean termite control methods using chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSIs) aim at eliminating colonies that feed upon a bait formulation. Several benzoylurea active ingredient formulations are currently commercially available as alternative termite management strategies to liquid termiticides. Individual workers need to molt on a regular basis and CSIs interfere with such molting process, allowing sufficient time for the acquisition of a colony-wide lethal dose prior to widespread mortality. As workers progressively die, the colony eventually collapses, leaving only soldiers and primary reproductives that starve to death. One common observation is that young workers often die early owing to their relatively short molting cycle. However, the absence of brood in dying colonies raises questions about the potential fate of eggs laid by the queen. This study aims to determine if CSI baits also terminate the ability of a colony to produce a new cohort of workers by disabling the ongoing brood development. Incipient termite colonies were used to test the impact of noviflumuron on the queen's ability to lay eggs and on the eggs' ability to hatch. Our results showed that queens in colonies exposed to CSI not only initially laid less eggs than the control queens, but eggs also did not develop and were progressively cannibalized, eventually leading to colony establishment failure. This result implies that queens of mature colonies exposed to CSI would lose the ability to lay viable eggs as the colony collapses, leading to an absence of worker replacement, aiding in colony elimination.

Coordination of movement via complementary interactions of leaders and followers in termite mating pairs.

In collective animal motion, coordination is often achieved by feedback between leaders and followers. For stable coordination, a leader's signals and a follower's responses are hypothesized to be attuned to each other. However, their roles are difficult to disentangle in species with highly coordinated movements, hiding potential diversity of behavioural mechanisms for collective behaviour. Here, we show that two Coptotermes termite species achieve a similar level of coordination via distinct sets of complementary leader-follower interactions. Even though C. gestroi females produce less pheromone than C. formosanus, tandem runs of both species were stable. Heterospecific pairs with C. gestroi males were also stable, but not those with C. formosanus males. We attributed this to the males' adaptation to the conspecific females; C. gestroi males have a unique capacity to follow females with small amounts of pheromone, while C. formosanus males reject C. gestroi females as unsuitable but are competitive over females with large amounts of pheromone. An information-theoretic analysis supported this conclusion by detecting information flow from female to male only in stable tandems. Our study highlights cryptic interspecific variation in movement coordination, a source of novelty for the evolution of social interactions.

Concentration-Dependent Feeding Deterrence to 20-Hydroxyecdysone for Three Subterranean Termite Species (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae).

Effective active ingredients in toxicant bait formulations must be non-deterrent to insect feeding behavior at lethal concentrations. This study evaluated feeding deterrence for Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, C. gestroi (Wasmann), and Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) when provided access to cellulose impregnated with various concentrations of the insect molting hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Termites were exposed to 20E concentrations of 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm and to noviflumuron at 5000 ppm in a 24 h choice-test, and the mass of substrate consumption from treated and untreated media pads was compared for each treatment. 20E feeding deterrence was detected at 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm for C. gestroi, and at 2000 ppm for C. formosanus. No significant differences in consumption of treated and untreated substrate was detected at any concentration for R. flavipes. Potential methods for reducing deterrence are discussed.

3'-O-Acetyl-24-Epi-7,8-Didehydrocimigenol-3-O-ß-DXylopryranoside Decreases Amyloid Beta Production in Amyloid Precursor Protein-Transfected HeLa Cells.

Extracellular beta amyloid (Aß) plaques are the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Accordingly, reducing Aß levels is considered a promising strategy for AD prevention. 3'-O-acetyl-24-epi-7,8-didehydrocimigenol-3-O-ß-D-xylopryranoside significantly decreased the Aß production and this effect was accompanied with reduced sAPPß production known as a soluble ectodomain APP fragment through ß-secretases in HeLa cells overexpressing amyloid precursor proteins (APPs). This compound also increased the level of sAPPα, which is a proteolytic fragment of APP by α-secretases. In addition, 3'-O-acetyl-24-epi-7,8-didehydrocimigenol-3-O-ß-D-xylopryranoside decreased the protein level of ß-secretases, but the protein levels of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) family, especially ADAM10 and ADAM17, are increased. Thus, 3'-O-acetyl-24-epi-7,8-didehydrocimigenol-3-O-ß-D-xylopryranoside could be useful in the development of AD treatment in the aspect of amyloid pathology.

Minimizing moving distance in deposition behavior of the subterranean termite.

Subterranean termite nests are located underground and termites forage out by constructing tunnels to reach food resources, and tunneling behavior is critical in order to maximize the foraging efficiency. Excavation, transportation, and deposition behavior are involved in the tunneling, and termites have to move back and forth to do this. Although there are three sequential behaviors, excavation has been the focus of most previous studies. In this study, we investigated the deposition behavior of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, in experimental arenas having different widths (2, 3, and 4 mm), and characterized the function of deposited particles. We also simulated moving distance of the termites in different functions. Our results showed that total amounts of deposited particles were significantly higher in broad (4 mm width) than narrow (2 mm) tunnels and most deposited particles were observed near the tip of the tunnel regardless of tunnel widths. In addition, we found that deposited particles followed a quadratic decrease function, and simulation results showed that moving distance of termites in this function was the shortest. The quadratic decrease function of deposited particles in both experiment and simulation suggested that short moving distance in the decrease quadratic function is a strategy to minimize moving distance during the deposition behavior.

Protective Effects of Compounds from Cimicifuga dahurica against Amyloid Beta Production in Vitro and Scopolamine-Induced Memory Impairment in Vivo.

Cimicifuga dahurica has traditionally been used as an antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory agent and as a treatment for uterine and anal prolapse. This study has investigated the potential beneficial effects of this medicinal plant and its components on Alzheimer's disease (AD) with a focus on amyloid beta (Aß) production and scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice. An ethanol extract from C. dahurica roots decreased Aß production in APP-CHO cells [Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO) cells stably expressing amyloid precursor protein (APP)], as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot analysis. Then, the compounds isolated from C. dahurica were tested for their antiamyloidogenic activities. Four compounds (1-4) efficiently interrupted Aß generation by suppressing the level of ß-secretase in APP-CHO cells. Moreover, the in vivo experimental results demonstrated that compound 4 improved the cognitive performances of mice with scopolamine-induced disruption on behavioral tests and the expression of memory-related proteins. Taken together, these results suggest that C. dahurica and its constituents are potential agents for preventing or alleviating the symptoms of AD.

Inferring Termite Colony Size Using Wood Consumption in Subterranean Termites (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) in Laboratory-Rearing Conditions.

Termite colony size can influence its foraging activity, reproductive maturity, and, for pest species, potential for structural damage. Estimating colony size of subterranean termite species in field conditions has been challenging owing to their extensive foraging territory and their cryptic nesting habit and has primarily relied on mark-recapture methods. With laboratory-reared colonies in individual containers, determining colony size can be achieved by processing all termites from the nest material, which can be labor intensive and partially destructive. However, with the recent rise in the need of large laboratory colonies for use in colony-wide experimental protocols, there was an imperative to develop a procedure to estimate initial colony sizes without imposing a major stress on colonies before an experiment. In this study, the average daily wood consumption of whole colonies was used to infer the colony size of two Coptotermes, Wasmann (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) species and their hybrids in laboratory-rearing conditions. Correlations between the daily wood consumption and several demographic variables within colonies were established. Linear models varied across all species mating types with R2 values greater than 0.8 for all demographic variables. For colonies from all mating combinations, Pearson's correlation coefficient values were greater than 0.94 between their daily wood consumption and both the number of workers and total number of termites, and greater than 0.91 between daily wood consumption and colony mass. Therefore, in colonies with fixed laboratory conditions, their average daily wood consumption determination, which is nondestructive on colonies, can be used to infer colony size of subterranean termites.

A Reproductives Excluder for Subterranean Termites in Laboratory Experiments.

As a social insect, termites have different castes and division of labor in a colony. Investigating the social behavior of subterranean termites is a challenge due to the cryptic nature and large colony size. Planar arenas are commonly used to study these termites under laboratory conditions, and have provided several advantages. However, there is no means to designate areas such as a royal chamber or central nest from foraging sites because reproductives can move freely across arenas. In this study, we examined the minimum passing size of different castes of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), in order to develop a reproductive excluder and correlated minimum passing size with head widths and heights. We found that workers and soldiers of C. formosanus were able to pass through a gap greater than or equal to 0.7 mm. Our results showed that there are significant differences in the head width and height based on castes and head height was more critical than head width to determine passing size. We further confirmed feasibilities of the reproductive excluders using incipient colonies of C. formosanus. Confining reproductives using the excluder in laboratory experiments will provide more chances to study the royal chamber and central nest independently of foraging sites.

Fused Colonies of the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) for Laboratory Experiments.

Laboratory studies of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) often employ the use of field-collected foraging populations of individuals as defined colonies. The biological relevance of this practice is often called into question, because these colonies lack a full composition of reproductive castes and brood, which may have physiological and behavioral consequences. Rearing intact laboratory colonies can be done; however, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The artificial fusion of field-collected foraging populations with a young, laboratory-reared incipient colony may provide whole, intact colonies for laboratory research. The current study measures survivorship of fused colonies using laboratory-reared complete incipient colonies ranging in age from 0 to 5 mo, fused with 100 workers and 10 soldiers from field-collected populations of different colonial origin. Results indicate that 60% of colony fusion was successful when the incipient colony introduced is 5 mo of age. This method of colony fusion will provide researchers with intact colonies using minimal resources.