The chemical defense secretions of major and minor soldiers of over 18 colonies of the primitive glue-squirting nasute termiteLongipeditermes longipes (Isoptera, Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) were analyzed chormatographically. The colonies, collected from four rainforest sites in peninsular Malaysia, showed monoterpene patterns rich in pinenes and limonene but with few quantitative differences between colonies. In marked contrast, the diterpene chemistry is high variable, and includes tricyclic (trinervitane), tetracyclic (rippertane), bicyclic (secotrinervitane), and a new spirotetracyclic (longipane) skeleton. Three new natural products are included in this remarkable and unprecedented example of structural diversity among different colonies of a single species.
Trinervita-1(15),8(19)-dien-2β,3α-diol and the new trinervita-1(15),8(19)-dien-2β, 3α-diol 2-O-acetate constitute the major diterpene constituents of the soldier defense secretions of the NasutitermiteHospitalitermes umbrinus of Malaysian region. Studies on the intraspecific variations on sympatric and allopatric populations indicate two distinct patterns of chemical composition.