A comprehensive review on the documented characteristics of four Reticulitermes termites (Rhinotermitidae, Blattodea) of China

Abstract

Termites are known as social insects worldwide. Presently in China 473 species, 44 genera and 4 families of termites have been reported. Of them, 111 Reticulitermes species are widely spread in different zones of China. The dispersion flight season of these Chinese Reticulitermes species are usually started from February to June, but in some regions different species are distributed, sharing their boundaries and having overlapping flight seasons. These reasons become important sources of hybridization between two different heterospecific populations of termites. It was confirmed that the fertilized eggs and unfertilized eggs of some Reticulitermes termites have the capacity of cleavage. While the unfertilized eggs of R. aculabialis, R. chinensis and R. labralis cleaved normally and the only R. aculabialis unfertilized eggs develop in embryos. While, the R. flaviceps and R. chinensis were observed with their abnormal embryonic development, and not hatching of eggs parthenogenetically. They were reported more threatening to Chinese resources as they propagate with parthenogenesis, hybridization and sexual reproduction. Eggshell and macrophiles of eggs play important roles in species identification and control. Although, they are severe pests and cause a wide range of damages to wooden structures and products in homes, buildings, building materials, trees, crops, and forests in China’s Mainland.

Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

“…The embryonic stages of termite development were crucial; during this time, the embryo was served by other individuals of the colony for successful development and hatching; even larvae W1 and W2 were fed by them. These findings were generally in agreement with the results reported in previous studies [2,36,42].…”

“…The results showed that R. flaviceps parthenogenetically deposited a smaller number of eggs than R. aculabialis in a couple of months, while the R. flaviceps deposited lesser eggs in September than August. Our findings were consistent with those of numerous other researchers, such as Ishitani and Maekawa [42,43], who discovered that the number of eggs in early-stage female-female nests was substantially greater than that in female-male nests.…”

Telomerase as a possible key to bypass reproductive cost

“…In contrast, the fecundity of most eusocial insect species is extremely high as a single queen can lay hundreds of millions of eggs in a lifetime. For example, the honeybee queen, with a lifespan of about 5 years, can lay up to 200,000 eggs per year (Bodenheimer & Nerya, 1937); the queen of the army ant Eciton burchelli , with a lifespan of up to 30 years, can lay 100,000 eggs in 3 weeks (Boswell et al, 1998; Gotwald, 1995); or the queen of the termite Macrotermes subhyalinus can produce 3600 eggs in 24 h over her 20‐year lifespan (Keller, 1998; Khan et al, 2022). As a result, it appears that the reproductive individuals in eusocial insect colonies contradict the reversed reproduction–longevity trade‐off because they are both highly fecund and live longer than nonreproductives within their own colonies or solitary insect individuals.…”

Telomerase as a possible key to bypass reproductive cost

“…When compared to non-social insects, most eusocial insect species have extremely high fecundity as a single queen can lay hundreds of millions of eggs in a lifetime. For example, the honeybee queen, with a lifespan of about 5 years, can lay up to 200,000 eggs per year (Bodenheimer and Nerya 1937); the queen of the army ant Eciton burchelli , with a lifespan of up to 30 years, can lay 100,000 eggs in three weeks (Gotwald 1995;Boswell et al 1998); or the queen of the termite Macrotermes subhyalinus can produce 3,600 eggs in 24 hours over her 20-year lifespan (Keller 1998;Khan et al 2022).…”