Age polyethism, task allocation and behavioral flexibility are well understood in the social hymenoptera such as ants, bees and wasps. However, knowledge of this topic in subterranean termites is limited despite all described termites species are eusocial. It was previously reported that old workers in Coptoterems formosanus distributed farther away from the nest and displayed age polyethism. In this study, we investigated age polyethism and foraging task allocation in response to change of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Results showed that foraging worker proportion in C. formosanus were rather stable at 20% despite of altering colony demography. In case of extrinsic factors, foraging worker proportion varied 5-20 % depending on nutrient availabilities. Details will be discussed during the presentation.
