Overview of the Morphology of Neotropical Termite Workers: History and Practice

Rocha, Mauricio; Cuezzo, Carolina; Constantini, Joice Paulo; Oliveira, Danilo Elias de; Santos, Rosana Nunes dos; Carrijo, Tiago F.

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v66i1.2067

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…occurrence of both as fragmentary structures ex situ on the soil surface, we propose that the behavior of the producer of L. kwekai would have been similar to that of O. brevicorniger, and that the latter's nests would represent the complete systems from which specimens of Laetolichnus were derived. Onkotermes, which only includes two endemic species in Argentina, is a distinct genus that could not be placed within any of the African Termitinae (Torales and Fontes 2008;Rocha et al 2019). Therefore, Onkotermes and the termites that produced Laetolichnus would not be phylogenetically related.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DIFFUSE TERMITINAE NESTS SHED LIGHT ON THE AFFINITIES OF LAETOLICHNUS KWEKAI (KRAUSICHNIDAE)

Cantil

Genise

Farina³

et al. 2021

Palaios

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The insect trace fossil Laetolichnus kwekai, which is composed of a small chamber extending to slender cylinders at each end, was tentatively included in the ichnofamily Krausichnidae as termite nests. New evidence presented here provides information to validate these inferences. A more complex structure formed by interconnected Laetolichnus was recently found in the same Pliocene deposits (Laetoli, Tanzania) as the isolated specimens reported previously. Our study confirms inclusion of Laetolichnus in Krausichnidae and supports the inference that it represents a nest of a social insect. Neoichnological field studies in the coastal dunes of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, were undertaken to refine further the nature of these affinities. Survey of the dune surface revealed abundant loose fragments of termite nests of a size and shape comparable to that of L. kwekai. The fragile nests constructed by Onkotermes brevicorniger, which are described here in detail for the first time, enable us to interpret the fossil structures. They consist of connected chambers similar to the interconnected Laetolichnus. These were frequently exposed and broken by wind action resulting in loose fragments similar to the isolated Laetolichnus. The Celliforma ichnofacies represented at Laetoli, which contains L. kwekai, indicates arid or semiarid shrublands and woodlands. The distribution of O. brevicorniger also corresponds to arid and semiarid shrublands and dry woodlands of Argentina. Although the African termite producer of L. kwekai and the South American Onkotermes would be phylogenetically unrelated, the analogous structures probably reflect convergent nesting behaviors as an adaptation to similar arid to semiarid environmental conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DIFFUSE TERMITINAE NESTS SHED LIGHT ON THE AFFINITIES OF LAETOLICHNUS KWEKAI (KRAUSICHNIDAE)

Cantil

Genise

Farina³

et al. 2021

Palaios

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“…nov. had not been previously described, indicating the lack of taxonomic work on soldierless termites. Currently, the use of the worker caste for the taxonomic identification of termites has been shown to be increasingly necessary, regardless of the presence of imago or soldier castes (Rocha et al 2019). Many other Apicotermitinae species present wide distributions in South America, such as Compositermes vindai Scheffrahn, which has been reported from Panama to Paraguay (Scheffrahn 2013), Aparatermes silvestrii (Emerson), reported from Trinidad and Tobago to Paraguay (Pinzón et al 2019), Longustitermes manni (Snyder), reported from Honduras to Brazil (Bourguignon et al 2010), Tonsuritermes tucki Constantini and Cancello, reported from Colombia and French Guiana to southern Brazil and Paraguay (Constantini et al 2018); and, with older records, species such as Anoplotermes meridianus Emerson, 1925 andAnoplotermes parvus Snyder, 1923, recorded from Central America to Argentina (Bourguignon et al 2010;Krishna et al 2013;Constantino 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taxonomic study of the worker caste has been underwhelming in the Neotropical Region (Rocha et al 2019), and because all New World Apicotermitinae are soldierless, this subfamily has been historically understudied. Before 2009, only five genera had been described (Fontes 1992;Bourguignon et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rustitermes boteroi, a new genus and species of soldierless termites (Blattodea, Isoptera, Apicotermitinae) from South America

Castro¹,

Constantini²,

Scheffrahn³

et al. 2020

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We present the description of a new genus and species of soldierless termites from South America. Rustitermes boteroi Constantini, Castro & Scheffrahn, gen. et sp. nov. can be identified by the morphology of the enteric valve, with six slightly asymmetric cushions, each one forming a central pouch made of scales smaller than those between the cushions. The new genus features two characteristic rows of thick bristles on the interior margin of the fore tibia, and is supported by COI molecular sequence data. This species is distributed from Tobago to northern Argentina.

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“…Classical systematics has been used to classify termite species using morphological features of worker and soldier castes (Donovan et al 2000;Aldrich et al 2007;Rocha et al 2019), which is useful to the genus level. To accurately discern species, a combination of molecular and morphological approaches have proven useful (Wallman & Donnellan 2001;Austin et al 2005;Yeap et al 2007), especially in cases where only partial or damaged samples are available (Judith & Nicola 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and phylogenetic analysis of various termite species distributed across southern Haryana, India

et al. 2023

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Termites are highly abundant and vital insects that directly and indirectly influence local soils. The present study investigated the morphological and molecular phylogenetics of termite species collected from study fields in southern Haryana, India, from 2020 to 2021. Samples were subjected to integrated systematic analyses, taking into account the mandible features of soldiers for morphological systematics and 16S rRNA gene-based phylogeny for molecular systematics. Based on the external phenotype and relations to reference sequences in NCBI GenBank, 21 species were identified; these included five species each from Odontotermes and Microcerotermes, four species from Coptotermes, two species each from Microtermes and Eremotermes, and one species each from Amitermes, Angulitermes, and Neotermes. 16S rRNA gene sequences were utilized to construct phylogenetic trees to explore the relatedness among identified species. The results of the different molecular phylogenetic approaches including maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and neighbor-joining revealed nearly identical topological relations between the species and grouping of individuals in relation to their genera. The maximum parsimony tree based on mandible features has been found to be effective in clustering multiple species of a given genus in a clade in at least three termite genera.

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Overview of the Morphology of Neotropical Termite Workers: History and Practice

Cited by 7 publications

References 110 publications

DIFFUSE TERMITINAE NESTS SHED LIGHT ON THE AFFINITIES OF LAETOLICHNUS KWEKAI (KRAUSICHNIDAE)

DIFFUSE TERMITINAE NESTS SHED LIGHT ON THE AFFINITIES OF LAETOLICHNUS KWEKAI (KRAUSICHNIDAE)

Rustitermes boteroi, a new genus and species of soldierless termites (Blattodea, Isoptera, Apicotermitinae) from South America

Identification and phylogenetic analysis of various termite species distributed across southern Haryana, India

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