Phylogeography of Nasutitermes corniger (Isoptera: Termitidae) in the Neotropical Region

Abstract

BackgroundThe Neotropical Region is known for its biodiversity and ranks third in number of known termite species. However, biogeographic and phylogeographic information of termites of this region is limited compared to other world geographic regions. Nasutitermes corniger is widely distributed in the region and is of considerable economic importance. The goal of this study was to describe the phylogeography of N. corniger in the Neotropical Region, to better understand its evolutionary processes.ResultsThe sampled populations of N. corniger showed high genetic variation. Results indicated strong geographic structure among N. corniger populations, with most haplotypes not broadly shared among separated locations. Phylogeographic analyses showed a dispersal route for N. corniger from Central America into South America via the Isthmus of Panama, with subsequent dispersal through the highlands east of the Andes and into eastern regions of the continent. The majority of haplotypes were limited in distribution to proximal regions, corresponding to particular biomes (Atlantic Forest, Amazonia, Chaco, Cerrado and Caatinga).Conclusions Nasutitermes corniger is suggested to be a good model for biogeographic and phylogeographic studies in the Neotropical Region. This study clarified the phylogeographic history of N. corniger and can contribute to the understanding of biogeographic dispersion processes in the Neotropical Region.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12862-017-1079-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Evolutionary history of Nasutitermes kemneri (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae), a termite from the South American diagonal of open formations

“…Little is known about termites' species evolutionary history, with most articles just focusing on species of the Rhinotermitidae family (e.g., Kutnik et al, 2004;Szalanski et al, 2004;Park et al, 2006;Tripodi et al, 2006;Jenkins et al, 2007;Luchetti et al, 2007;Austin et al, 2008;Lefebvre et al, 2008;Li et al, 2009;Scicchitano et al, 2018;Hyseni and Garrick, 2019). Although being the evolutionary most recent and most diverse family, the phylogeography of the Termitidae remains scarcely studied (Ozeki et al, 2007;de Faria Santos et al, 2017Singham et al, 2017). Among these, there are only two phylogeographic studies for Nasutitermes species: N. corniger and N. ephratae (de Faria Santos et al, 2017, up to date.…”

“…Although being the evolutionary most recent and most diverse family, the phylogeography of the Termitidae remains scarcely studied (Ozeki et al, 2007;de Faria Santos et al, 2017Singham et al, 2017). Among these, there are only two phylogeographic studies for Nasutitermes species: N. corniger and N. ephratae (de Faria Santos et al, 2017, up to date. In both species, significant degrees of genetic structure were found across the different domains of the wide Neotropical region.…”

Influence of the amount of food resources in the foraging behavior of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky)

“…The arboreal termite species Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) is the most widely distributed one, and it is found in the Meso-American region, from Southern Mexico to Panama, and also in South America (ATKINSON;ADAMS, 1997;CONSTANTINO, 2002;TORALES, 2002;SCHEFFRAHN et al, 2005;SANTOS et al, 2017;CONSTANTINO, 2019). Moreover, N. corniger causes great damage in urban zones in the entire Neotropical region; and it is seen as a severe pest in some South American countries, such as Argentina, and in many Brazilian states, where it causes damage to timber used in construction sites and for furniture manufacture (BANDEIRA et al, 1989;MIRANDA;VASCONCELLOS, 1998;MILL, 1991;BICALHO, 2000;COSTA-LEONARDO, 2002;TORALES, 2002;ALBUQUERQUE et al, 2012).…”

The complete mitochondrial genome of Nasutitermes tiantongensis Zhou et Xu, 1993 (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae)

“…Nasutitermitinae is a large subfamily of Termitidae, and of considerable economic importance (De Faria Santos et al 2017 ). Nasutitermes belongs to the subfamily Nasutitermitinae, the genus status of many species within this subfamily is uncertain, and the species in the genus Nasutitermes is also complex and needed to be reclassification (Inward et al.…”