The rapid development of analytical methods in the last four decades has led to the discovery of a fascinating diversity of defensive chemicals used by termites. The last exhaustive review on termite defensive chemicals was published by G.D. Prestwich in 1984. In this text, we aim to fill the gap of the past 25 years and overview all of the relevant primary sources about the chemistry of termite defense (126 original papers, see Fig. 1 and online supplementary material) along with related biological aspects, such as the anatomy of defensive glands and their functional mechanisms, alarm communication, and the evolutionary significance of these defensive elements.

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Flemingovo nám Prague Czech Republic

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Alarm communication predates eusociality in termites

Termite evolution: mutualistic associations, key innovations, and the rise of Termitidae

Roisinitermesebogoensis gen. & sp. n., an outstanding drywood termite with snapping soldiers from Cameroon (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae)

Breaking the cipher: ant eavesdropping on the variational trail pheromone of its termite prey

Smells Like Home: Chemically Mediated Co-Habitation of Two Termite Species in a Single Nest

The nature of alarm communication in Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Blattodea: Termitoidea: Termitidae): the integration of chemical and vibroacoustic signals

Chemical alarm in the termite Termitogeton planus (Rhinotermitidae)

Comparative study of the labial gland secretion in termites (Isoptera)

Chemistry and anatomy of the frontal gland in soldiers of the sand termite Psammotermes hybostoma

Not only soldiers have weapons: evolution of the frontal gland in imagoes of the termite families Rhinotermitidae and Serritermitidae

The frontal gland in workers of Neotropical soldierless termites