Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial insects which consume a wide variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied and typically unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants, to which they are distantly related. About 2,972 extant species are currently described, 2,105 of which are members of the family Termitidae.
Autothysis or suicidal altruism is the process where an animal destroys itself via an internal rupturing or explosion of an organ which ruptures the skin. The term was proposed by Ulrich Maschwitz and Eleonore Maschwitz in 1974 to describe the defensive mechanism of Colobopsis saundersi, a species of ant. It is caused by a contraction of muscles around a large gland that leads to the breaking of the gland wall. Some termites release a sticky secretion by rupturing a gland near the skin of their neck, producing a tar effect in defense against ants.
In zoology, an inquiline is an animal that lives commensally in the nest, burrow, or dwelling place of an animal of another species. For example, some organisms such as insects may live in the homes of gophers or the garages of humans and feed on debris, fungi, roots, etc. The most widely distributed types of inquiline are those found in association with the nests of social insects, especially ants and termites – a single colony may support dozens of different inquiline species. The distinctions between parasites, social parasites, and inquilines are subtle, and many species may fulfill the criteria for more than one of these, as inquilines do exhibit many of the same characteristics as parasites. However, parasites are specifically not inquilines, because by definition they have a deleterious effect on the host species, while inquilines have not been confirmed to do so.
Michael S. Engel, FLS, FRES is an American paleontologist and entomologist, notable for contributions to insect evolutionary biology and classification. In connection with his studies he has undertaken field expeditions in Central Asia, Asia Minor, the Levant, Arabia, eastern Africa, the high Arctic, and South and North America, and has published more than 925 papers in scientific journals and over 1000 new living and fossil species. Some of Engel's research images were included in exhibitions on the aesthetic value of scientific imagery.
Termitidae is the largest family of termites consisting of 2,105 described species of which are commonly known as the higher termites. They are evolutionarily the most specialised termite group, with their highly compartmentalized hindgut lacking the flagellated protozoans common to "lower termites", which are instead replaced by bacteria. Whereas lower termites are restricted mostly to woody tissue, higher termites have diverse diets consisting of wood, grass, leaf litter, fungi, lichen, faeces, humus and soil. Around 60% of species rely on soil-feeding alone.
Nasutitermes corniger is a species of arboreal termite that is endemic to the neotropics. It is very closely related to Nasutitermes ephratae. The species has been studied relatively intensively, particularly on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. These studies and others have shown that the termite interacts with many different organisms including a bat that roosts in its nest and various species of ants that cohabit with the termite.
Reticulitermes is a termite genus in the family Rhinotermitidae. They are found in most temperate regions on Earth including much of Asia and the Middle East, Western Europe, and all of North America.
Serritermitidae is a family of termites belonging to the infraorder Isoptera in the order Blattodea. The family includes only a few species, which live in South America.
Amitermes is a genus of termites in the family Termitidae. It is the second largest genus after Microcerotermes in the subfamily Amitermitinae with around one hundred species. Species are found in a range of habitats including deserts and rainforests. Characteristics of Amitermes soldiers include a bulbous head, sickle-shaped mandibles with a single tooth on their inner margins and cephalic glands on the front of their heads.
Nasutitermes triodiae, also known as the cathedral termite, is a grass-eating species of Nasutitermitinae termite that can be found in Northern Territory, Australia. It is also sometimes referred to as the spinifex termite, since it is found in the spinifex grasslands. Very little research has been done on the underground nature of this species.
The Nasutitermitinae is a cosmopolitan subfamily of higher termites that includes more than 80 genera. They are most recognisable by the more highly derived soldier caste which exhibits vestigial mandibles and a protruding fontanellar process on the head from which they can "shoot" chemical weaponry. True workers of certain genera within this subfamily also exhibit a visible epicranial y suture, most notably found within the members of Nasutitermes. Notable genera include the notorious wood-eating Nasutitermes, and the conspicuous Hospitalitermes and Constrictotermes, both genera characterized by their behavior of forming large open-air foraging trails.
Macrotermes carbonarius, also known as Kongkiak in Malay, is a large black species of fungus-growing termite in the genus Macrotermes. It is one of the most conspicuous species of Macrotermes found in the Indomalayan tropics, forming large foraging trails in the open that can extend several metres in distance. M. carbonarius is a highly aggressive species with the soldiers possessing large curving mandibles that easily break skin. It is found in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Blattoidea is a superfamily of cockroaches and termites in the order Blattodea. There are about 17 families and more than 4,100 described species in Blattoidea.
Hospitalitermes is an Asian–Papuan genus of lichen eating termite in the subfamily Nasutitermitinae. There are 37 species currently listed, of which most are recognized for their extensive surface foraging columns. Due to their conspicuous foraging activities they are commonly known as processionary or marching termites. They often inhabit cavities inside of living trees excavated by other species of termite.
Ceylonitermes is a genus of termites in the subfamily Nasutitermitinae. They are found in South and Southeast Asia.
Inquilinitermes spp. is a genus of Neotropical termites described by Anthony G. Mathews that includes species found exclusively inside nests of another termite species, belonging to the genus Constrictotermes spp.. For not being able to build their own nest, every species of Inquilinitermes has been commonly referred as an obligatory inquiline and its symbiosis with a host termite has been treated as inquilinism.
Syntermes is a genus of large Neotropical higher termites within the subfamily Syntermitinae. The genus is found only in South America where members are distributed widely throughout the continent, being found from the tropical rainforests of Colombia to the savannas of Brazil and Northern Argentina.
Constrictotermes cyphergaster is a Neotropical species of open-air foraging nasute termite within the genus Constrictotermes. This species is distributed widely throughout South America and lives within xeric habitats such as the savannas found in Paraguay, Bolivia, Central Brazil, and Northern Argentina. C. cyphergaster primarily builds arboreal and transient epigeic nests and mainly consumes dead woods at varying stages of decomposition.
The Syntermitinae, also known as the mandibulate nasutes, is a Neotropical subfamily of higher termites represented by 21 genera and 103 species. The soldier caste of members of this subfamily have a conspicuous horn-like projection on the head which is adapted for chemical defense, similar to the fontanellar gun of true nasute termites. However unlike true nasutes, the mandibles of the soldiers are functional and highly developed, and they are unable to expel their chemical weaponry at a distance – instead relying on direct physical contact. Some genera, such as Syntermes or Labiotermes, have a highly reduced nasus and in some species it may appear absent altogether. Although the Syntermitinae were once grouped and considered basal within the Nasutitermitinae, they are not closely related with modern cladistic analyses showing Syntermitinae to be a separate and distinct lineage that is more closely related to either the Amitermes-group or MicrocerotermesTermitinae. It is believed the nasus evolved independently in Syntermitinae in an example of convergent evolution. Genera range from southern Mexico (Cahuallitermes) to Northern Argentina with the highest diversity occurring in the Brazilian Cerrado.
Rhynchotermes is a genus of Neotropical higher termites within the subfamily Syntermitinae, represented by 8 known species. Species of this genus are known for their soldiers which have highly developed sickle-shaped mandibles and a pronounced frontal tube superficially analogous to the fontanellar guns of true nasute termites. Most species forage above the surface in the open where they primarily feed on forest leaf litter. Nests are subterranean or are shallow and epigeic.
