ABSTRACT
Nasutitermes spp. soldier defensive secretion has a toxic and repellent effect against predators. Chemical profile characterization of this secretion is an interesting tool to differentiate similar termite species. This study aimed to determine defensive secretion composition of Nasutitermes spp. soldier and to apply chemotaxonomy tool for the unambiguous species identification. Fifteen volatile compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Multivariate analysis classified populations into three groups. Principal component (PCA), axis 1, was able to separate two groups: group I, colonies 1 and 2 (Nasutitermes corniger) and group II, colony 3 (Nasutitermes ephratae). Therefore, determination of defensive chemical secretion profile proved to be very useful in termite chemotaxonomy, since it was able to differentiate morphologically similar specimens.
