Tonsuritermes, a new soldierless termite genus and two new species from South America (Blattaria: Isoptera: Termitidae: Apicotermitinae)

Abstract

A new genus, Tonsuritermes Cancello & Constantini gen. nov., is described from South America. The main morphological features of the new genus are a remarkable frontal gland and protibia with two rows of spine-like bristles. Two new species of Tonsuritermes are described: T. tucki Cancello & Constantini sp. nov. and T. mathewsi Cancello & Constantini sp. nov. Comparisons, measurements, a map, histology of the frontal gland, and illustration of all fundamental morphological aspects are provided.

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

“…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). Possibly, many others common species are not yet described, and many others, Figure 6.…”

“…Before 2009, only five genera had been described (Fontes 1992;Bourguignon et al 2010). In recent years however, the development of Apicotermitinae taxonomy in the Neotropical Region has been increased by the description of ten new genera, with enteric valve morphology being of essential diagnostic character for the establishment of new taxa (Scheffrahn 2013;Bourguignon et al 2016b;Scheffrahn et al 2017;Castro et al 2018), although other characters may also be very useful, especially in taxa with less robust enteric valve armature (Acioli and Constantino 2015;Constantini et al 2018). The diversity of soldierless termites can be high, reaching up to 31 morphospecies for a single primary tropical rainforest (Bourguignon et al 2013).…”

Chasitermes pax, a new genus and species of soldierless termite (Termitidae, Apicotermitinae) from the island of Trinidad

“…Fontes (1992) provided the first identification key for workers of these five genera. The descriptions of Longustitermes (Bourguignon et al 2010), Compositermes (Scheffrahn 2013), Amplucrutermes, Humutermes, Hydrecotermes, Patawatermes, and Rubeotermes (Bourguignon et al 2016a), Disjunctitermes (Scheffrahn et al 2017), Echinotermes and Rustitermes (Castro et al 2018(Castro et al , 2020 and, for now, Tonsuritermes and Dissimulitermes (Constantini et al 2018(Constantini et al , 2020 have expanded the defined diversity of neotropical soldierless taxa.…”

Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of Apicotermitinae (Blattodea: Termitidae)

“…Despite recent progress on the taxonomy of Neotropical Apicotermitinae (e.g. Bourguignon et al ., 2010, 2016a; Acioli & Constantino, 2015; Constantini et al ., 2018), the systematics of this subfamily remains largely unresolved. To date, 224 species and 52 genera of Apicotermitinae have been described, with diversity hotspots located in Africa and South America (Bourguignon et al ., 2016b; Constantino, 2020; Roisin, 2021).…”