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... Symbioses between social insects and fungi can drive important processes in both. We show previously unrealised prevalence and diversity of Trichoderma species (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) in individuals of two termite species (Blattodea: Termitidae). Trichoderma is well known for producing cellulolytic and fungistatic compounds, which can be important to protect colonies against entomopathogenic fun ...
... Termite gut comprises a long tube divided into several compartments. The well-developed hindgut includes five distinct portions, in which microbial communities are harbored, being responsible for different physiological and digestive processes. An enlarged compartment of the hindgut, the paunch, comprises a sac–like structure whose morphological features differ among termite taxa. The Neotropical ...
Blattodea; DNA barcoding; Termitidae; digestive system; genes; monophyly; new genus; new species; taxonomic keys; India
Abstract:
... The new genus Rinacapritermes Amina & Rajmohana, n. gen. (Blattodea: Isoptera: Termitidae) and two new species Rinacapritermes silvius Amina & Rajmohana, n. gen., n. sp. and Rinacapritermes abundans Amina & Rajmohana, n. gen., n. sp. are described here based on the distinct morphological characters of the soldier and the worker castes. The new genus and the new species are supported by distinct mo ...
Blattodea; Termitidae; color; digestive system; entomology; evergreen forests; head; new species; sclerotization; soil; taxonomic keys; trees; India
Abstract:
... Ceylonitermellus Emerson is a rarely collected soil inhabiting nasute termite endemic to Oriental region with three known species. A fourth species, Ceylonitermellus sahyadriensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on morphological characters of soldier and gut morphology of workers. Both the castes have poorly sclerotized body and paler in colour. This is the second species from India an ...
Blattodea; Golgi apparatus; Termitidae; anti-infective agents; arthropods; electron microscopy; micro-computed tomography; rough endoplasmic reticulum; secretion; ultrastructure; Western Africa
Abstract:
... Machadotermes is one of the basal Apicotermitinae genera, living in tropical West Africa. Old observations suggested the presence of a new gland, the intramandibular gland, in Machadotermes soldiers. Here, by combining micro-computed tomography, optical and electron microscopy, we showed that the gland exists in Machadotermes soldiers only as an active exocrine organ, consisting of numerous class ...
... Fungus‐growing termites are among the most successful herbivorous animals and improve crop productivity and soil fertility. A range of symbiotic organisms can be found inside their nests. However, interactions of termites with these symbionts are poorly understood. This review provides detailed information on the role of multipartite symbioses (between termitophiles, termites, fungi, and bacteria) ...
Ana Maria Costa-Leonardo; Iago Bueno da Silva; Vanelize Janei; Silvana Beani Poiani; José Roberto Aparecido dos Santos-Pinto; Franciele Grego Esteves; Mario Sérgio Palma
... Salivary glands are omnipresent in termites and occur in all developmental stages and castes. They function to produce, store, and secrete compounds, ranging from a feeding function to defensive mechanisms. Here, we provide a complete morphological overview of the salivary glands in the soldierless species Ruptitermes reconditus and R. xanthochiton, and the first proteomic profile of the salivary ...
... Rhinotermitidae (Isoptera) is an economically important termite family globally. The family is not monophyletic, and the relationships among some of its taxa remain confusing. The taxonomic status of some subfamilies is likely questionable because of various morphological characters of the soldiers and imagoes. Twenty species in 10 genera, representing all six subfamilies of Rhinotermitidae were s ...
Blattodea; Termitidae; geographical distribution; new species; taxonomic keys; India; Sri Lanka
Abstract:
... A new species, Dicuspiditermes leghugathrae Amina and Rajmohana sp.nov. (Termitidae) is described and illustrated based on the morphological characters of soldiers and workers. Dicuspiditermes hutsoni (Kemner), a termite species hitherto endemic to Sri Lanka, is reported for the first time from India. Both the species are recorded from the Kerala part of Western Ghats. An identification key to the ...
... Termites are dominant organisms of tropical ecosystems. Their success is partly due to the diversity of their feeding substrates, from dead plant tissues to mineralised soils. The Apicotermitinae is one of the richest subfamilies of soil-feeding termites, which are traditionally classified in feeding groups according to anatomical criteria, deemed to the reveal whether species feed on organic-rich ...
Blattodea; Neotropics; Termitidae; evolution; histology; insect taxonomy; new genus; new species
Abstract:
... A new genus, Dissimulitermes Constantini & Cancello gen. nov., is described from the Neotropical region. The main morphological feature of the new genus is remarkable defensive organs. A new species of Dissimulitermes is described: D. invisibilis Constantini & Cancello, sp. nov. Description, comparisons, measurements, a distribution map, histology of their dehiscent organ, and an illustration of a ...
... Neocapritermes opacus is a Neotropical termite, which feeds on a variety of food sources, including highly decayed wood and humus. Similar to many Termitidae, this species contains a mixed segment in the intestine, an anatomic distinct region composed of both mesenteric and proctodeal tissues. In Neocapritermes spp., a pair of intestinal protrusions referred to as mesenteric sacs are associated wi ...
Blattodea; Casuarina equisetifolia; Coptotermes gestroi; DNA barcoding; Microcerotermes; Nasutitermes takasagoensis; entomology; species identification; tree mortality; trees; Guam
Abstract:
... Ironwood trees (Casuarina equisetifolia subsp. equisetifolia L.) are ecologically and economically important trees in tropical and subtropical regions of the Indo-Pacific. Ironwood is one of the dominant tree species in Guam, but since 2002, this tree has been declining dramatically. A previous study showed that numerous sick or dead trees were under termite attack. However, the species of termite ...
David Sillam-Dussès; Jan Šobotník; Thomas Bourguignon; Ping Wen; Etienne Sémon; Alain Robert; Eliana M. Cancello; Chloé Leroy; Michael J. Lacey; Christian Bordereau
Blattodea; Termitidae; chemical ecology; developmental stages; foraging; nesting; trail pheromones
Abstract:
... Trail-following behavior is a key to ecological success of termites, allowing them to orient themselves between the nesting and foraging sites. This behavior is controlled by specific trail-following pheromones produced by the abdominal sternal gland occurring in all termite species and developmental stages. Trail-following communication has been studied in a broad spectrum of species, but the “hi ...
... Checklists of species of organisms from defined localities have aided scientists who seek to establish new taxon records therein. This work was carried out to update information on the Checklists of Nigerian Termites published about four decades ago and to reconcile information on richness and diversity of Nigerian termites. Taxonomy-related articles published on Nigerian termites were collated, r ...
... Termite societies are abundant in the tropics, and are therefore exposed to multiple enemies and predators, especially during foraging activity. Soldiers constitute a specialized defensive caste, although workers also participate in this process, and even display suicidal behavior, which is the case with the species Neocapritermes braziliensis. Here we describe the morphology, mechanisms of action ...
... The subterranean termite Globitermus sulphureus is an important Southeast Asian pest with limited genomic resources that causes damages to agriculture crops and building structures. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to survey the G. sulphureus transcriptome composition. Here, we performed de novo transcriptome for G. sulphureus workers’ heads using Illumina HiSeq paired-end sequencing tec ...
... Globitermes sulphureus is a major pest in coconut plantations and also a secondary pest in the urban, suburban and rural areas of building structures, as well as in tropical agriculture areas. Although the literature revealed microbiome in termite guts, the bacterial community in G. sulphureus intestinal tracts remain largely unidentified. Here, we aimed to characterize the bacterial community ass ...
Géssica de Sousa; Vânia Cristina dos Santos; Nelder de Figueiredo Gontijo; Reginaldo Constantino; Gabriela de Oliveira Paiva e Silva; Ana Cristina Bahia; Fabio Mendonça Gomes; Ednildo de Alcantara Machado
... Termites are the major decomposers of lignocellulosic biomass on Earth and are commonly considered as biological reactor models for lignocellulose degradation. Despite their biotechnological potential, few studies have focused on the morphophysiological aspects of the termite digestive system. We therefore analyze the morphology, ultrastructure and gut luminal pH of the digestive system in workers ...
... Termite inquilines specialize on living in and feeding on a host termite nest. However, the mechanisms allowing survival of two mutually hostile populations confined to a single nest are not understood. Here we report on inquiline termites that respond to their host's alarm cues. Upon detecting these cues, the inquilines do not join in with the host's nest defence, but use this information for the ...
Subterranean termites Macrotermes gilvus (Hagen)(Blattodea: Termitidae) belongs to the subfamily Macrotermitinae they are distributed widely in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Philippine, Vietnam, and Thailand. Many studies on these termites have been conducted, but the study of relatedness termites from different locations are barely done. The ...
Blattodea; Pinus; Termitidae; air temperature; altitude; case studies; coniferous forests; conservation areas; ecological function; forest succession; habitats; mixed forests; monsoon season; soil temperature; species richness; subtropics; tropical forests; China
Abstract:
... Termite (Blattodea: Termitoidae) assemblages have important ecological functions and vary in structure between habitats, but have not been studied in lower subtropical forests. To examine whether differences in the richness and relative abundance of termite species and functional groups occur in lower subtropical regions, termite assemblages were sampled in Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve, China, amo ...
... Earth mounds called ‘ murundus ’ are conspicuous features in the semi-arid region of Brazil, where their distribution and origin remain largely unknown. We adopted an approach based on spatially explicit mapping and modeling to determine the current and potential geographical distribution of murundus . We set up a systematic grid survey to map their current distribution using high-resolution satel ...
... Termites have developed many exocrine glands, generally dedicated to defence or communication. Although a few of these glands occur in all termite species, or represent synapomorphies of larger clades, others are morphological innovations of a single species, or a few related species. Here, we describe the nasus gland, a new gland occurring at the base of the nasus of Angularitermes soldiers. The ...
... Daily activity rhythms are widespread characteristics among many organisms and are usually related to one or more physical environmental variables, such as light and temperature. Even organisms that are not obviously exposed to wide fluctuations in environmental variables, such as troglodytic and endogeic species, exhibit some daily activity patterns. Termites inhabit underground areas or tree tru ...
... The subfamily Syntermitinae comprises 14 genera of termites that are exclusively neotropical. The present study reports morphological data about mandibulate nasute soldiers from termite species belonging to three different genera within this subfamily. We describe tergal glands that were present under all tergites of soldiers of the following species: Cornitermes cumulans, Procornitermes araujoi, ...
... A comprehensive karyological characterization of 20 Australian and three European species of Isoptera, together with a mitochondrial gene analysis is presented. Higher termites appear karyotypically very uniform, while lower termites are highly variable. The differences in chromosome number are explained through Robertsonian changes or multiple translocation events. An ancestral acrocentric karyot ...