Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 1769 No. 1: 14 May. 2008
Type: Article
Published: 2008-05-14
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1769.1.1
Page range: 1–34
Abstract views: 59
PDF downloaded: 1

Revision of the Termitinae with snapping soldiers (Isoptera: Termitidae) from New Guinea

Behavioral & Evolutionary Ecology, CP 160/12, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, B–1050 Brussels, Belgium
Biological Evaluation Section, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (IRSNB/KBIN), Rue Vautier 29, B–1000 Brussels, Belgium
Behavioral & Evolutionary Ecology, CP 160/12, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, B–1050 Brussels, Belgium
Blattodea Isoptera Termitinae new species Papuan Region biogeography

Abstract

Up to now, three described species of Termitinae with snapping soldier mandibles (the Termes–Capritermes group) were known from New Guinea: Termes odontomachus (Desneux), Macrognathotermes errator Miller and Pericapritermes schultzei (Holmgren). Here, we report the presence of seven additional species, among which three are new to science: Pericapritermes parvus, P. pilosus and P. papuanus. The other four, collected in southern Papuan savannas, were previously known from northern Australia: Ephelotermes paleatus Miller, E. cheeli (Mjöberg), Lophotermes aduncus Miller, and L. brevicephalus Miller. We reassign T. odontomachus to Protocapritermes Holmgren. Diagnostic characters andillustrations are provided for all species. The Oriental affinities of the forest fauna of New Guinea and the similarities between Australian and New Guinean savannas are emphasized.

References

  1. Barrett, J.H. (1965) The occurrence of termites in the New Guinea highlands. Papua and New Guinea Agricultural Journal, 17, 95–98.

    Desneux, J. (1905) Isoptera of New Guinea collected by L. Biró. Annales musei nationalis Hungarici, 3, 367–377.

    Eggleton, P. (2000) Global patterns of termite diversity. In T. Abe, D.E. Bignell and M. Higashi (Eds.), Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 25–51.

    Emerson, A.E. (1960) New genera of termites related to Subulitermes from the Oriental, Malagasy, and Australian regions (Isoptera, Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae). American Museum Novitates, 1986, 1–28.

    Froggatt, W.W. (1898) Australian Termitidae. Part III. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 22, 721–758.

    Gressitt, J.L. (1982) Zoogeographical summary. In Gressitt, J.L. (Ed.), Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea, Junk, The Hague, pp. 897–918.

    Hall, R. (1998) The plate tectonics of Cenozoic SE Asia and the distribution of land and sea. In R. Hall, J.D. Holloway (Eds.), Biogeography and Geological Evolution of SE Asia, Backhuys, Leiden, pp. 99–131.

    Hare, L. (1937) Termite phylogeny as evidenced by soldier mandible development. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 37, 459–486.

    Harris, W.V. & Brown, E.S. (1958) The termites of the Solomon Islands. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 49, 737–750.

    Hill, G.F. (1942) Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region. C.S.I.R., Melbourne, 479 pp., 24 pl.

    Holmgren, N. (1911) Neu-Guinea-Termiten. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin, 5, 451–465.

    Holmgren, N. (1912) Termitenstudien. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Händlingar, 48 (4), 1–166.

    Inward, D.J.G., Vogler, A.P., Eggleton, P. (2007) A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of termites (Isoptera) illuminates key aspects of their evolutionary biology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 44, 953–967.

    Krishna, K. (1968) Phylogeny and generic reclassification of the Capritermes complex (Isoptera, Termitidae, Termitinae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 138, 261–323.

    Miller, L.R. (1991) A revision of the Termes–Capritermes branch of the Termitinae in Australia (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 4, 1147–1282.

    Miller, L.R. (1994) Polyphyletic origins of the snapping mandibles and asymmetry, and the biogeography of some Termitinae (Isoptera: Termitidae). In A. Lenoir, G. Arnold and M. Lepage (Eds.), Les Insectes Sociaux (12th Congress IUSSI), Paris: Université Paris Nord, p. 52.

    Miller, L.R. (1997) Systematics of the Australian Nasutitermitinae With Reference to Evolution Within the Termitidae (Isoptera). Ph.D. Dissertation, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., 170 pp.

    Mjöberg, E. (1920) Results of Dr. E. Mjöberg’s Swedish scientific expeditions to Australia 1910–1913. 19. Isoptera. Arkiv för Zoologi, 12, 1–134.

    Noirot, C. (1995) The gut of termites (Isoptera). Comparative anatomy, systematics, phylogeny. I. Lower termites. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (Nouvelle Série), 31, 197–226.

    Noirot, C. (2002) The gut of termites (Isoptera). Comparative anatomy, systematics, phylogeny. II. Higher termites (Termitidae). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (Nouvelle Série), 37, 431–471.

    Parmentier, D. & Roisin, Y. (2003) Caste morphology and development in Termitogeton nr. planus (Insecta, Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Morphology, 255, 69–79.

    Pratt, T.K. (1982) Biogeography of birds in New Guinea. In Gressitt, J.L. (Ed.), Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea, Junk, The Hague, pp. 815–836.

    Roisin, Y. (1990) The termite genus Amitermes Silvestri in Papua New Guinea. Indo-Malayan Zoology, 6, 185–194.

    Roisin, Y. & Pasteels, J.M. (1996) The nasute termites (Isoptera: Nasutitermitinae) of Papua New Guinea. Invertebrate Taxonomy, 10, 507–616.

    Roisin, Y. & Pasteels, J.M. (2000) The genus Microcerotermes (Isoptera: Termitidae) in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Invertebrate Taxonomy, 14, 137–174.

    Roonwal, M.L. (1970) Measurement of termites (Isoptera) for taxonomic purposes. Journal of the Zoological Society of India, 21, 9–66.

    Schultze Jena, L. (1914) Forschungen in Innern der Insel Neuguinea (Bericht des Führers über die wissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse der deutschen Grenzexpedition in das westliche Kaiser-Wilhelmsland 1910). E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin, 100 pp., 5 maps, 5 panoramas, 59 pl.

    Silvestri, F. (1914) Contribuzione alla conoscenza dei Termitidae e termitofili dell’ Africa occidentale. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria, Portici, 9, 1–146.

    Snyder, T.E. (1949) Catalog of the termites (Isoptera) of the world. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 112, 1–490.

    Tayasu, I., Inoue, T., Miller, L.R., Sugimoto, A., Takeichi, S. & Abe, T. (1998) Confirmation of soil-feeding termites (Isoptera; Termitidae; Termitinae) in Australia using stable isotope ratios. Functional Ecology, 12, 536–542.

    Thapa, R.S. (1982) Termites of Sabah (East Malaysia). Sabah Forest Record, 12, 1–374.

    Tho, Y.P. (1992) Termites of Peninsular Malaysia. Malayan Forest Records No. 36. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, 224 pp.

    Watson, J.A.L.. & Abbey, H.M. (1993) Atlas of Australian Termites. CSIRO Division of Entomology, Canberra, 155 pp.

    Watson, J.A.L., Miller, L.R. & Abbey, H.M. (1998) Isoptera. In Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (Eds.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 23. Archaeognatha, Zygentoma, Blattodea, Isoptera, Mantodea, Dermaptera, Phasmatodea, Embioptera, Zoraptera, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, pp. 163–250, 397–399, 401–402, 427–437.

    Ziegler, A.C. (1982) An ecological check-list of New Guinea Recent mammals. In Gressitt, J.L. (Ed.), Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea, Junk, The Hague, pp. 863–894.