Cubitermitinae

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Cubitermitinae
Mushroom-shaped termite mound, Belgian Congo.jpg
Mushroom-shaped nest of Cubitermes sp.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Infraorder: Isoptera
Family: Termitidae
Subfamily: Cubitermitinae
Weidner, 1956: 99

The Cubitermitinae are an Afrotropical subfamily of higher termites with 28 known genera and 147 species. [1] [2] [3] [4] The nests of most species are either subterranean or found within the mounds of other termite species. The most well known genus of this subfamily is Cubitermes , which commonly build epigeal nests with one or more caps used to shield the nest against rainfall, giving them a characteristic mushroom shape. [5] Most members of this subfamily feed on soil humus. Due to their feeding habits, many species have a high pH within their digestive system, with Noditermes indoensis in particular exhibiting a pH around 12.28 within their anterior proctodeum; amongst the most alkaline environments known in a biological system. [6]

Contents

Identification

The gut of workers have a specialized blind caecum/diverticulum connected to proctodeal 3 and a complex physiology that regulates the pH and oxygen supply in the gut compartments. [7] [5]

Soldiers have a generally subrectangular head capsule with a projection anterior to the frontal gland with the fontanelle being conspicuous and sunken in a pit or groove. The labrum is strongly bifurcated and the antennae have 14 - 15 articles (antennomeres). [5]

Genera

The following genera are currently recognized: [4]

References

  1. ↑ Weidner, H. 1956. Contributions to the knowledge of termites in Angola, mainly based on the collections and observations of A. de Barros Machado (I. Contribution). Publicações Culturais da Companhia de Diamantes de Angola 29: 55-106.
  2. ↑ "Termites (Isoptera): Their Phylogeny, Classification, and Rise to Ecological Dominance". American Museum Novitates (3650): 1. 2009-07-25. doi:10.1206/651.1. ISSN   0003-0082. S2CID   56166416.
  3. ↑ ENGEL, MICHAEL S.; KRISHNA, KUMAR (2004). <0001:fnfti>2.0.co;2 "Family-Group Names for Termites (Isoptera)". American Museum Novitates (3432): 1. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2004)432<0001:fnfti>2.0.co;2. ISSN   0003-0082. S2CID   86672880.
  4. 1 2 Engel, M.S. (2011). "Family-group names for termites (Isoptera), redux". ZooKeys (148): 171–184. Bibcode:2011ZooK..148..171E. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.148.1682 . PMC   3264418 . PMID   22287896.
  5. 1 2 3 Treatise on the Isoptera of the world. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 377). Krishna, Kumar.; Grimaldi, David A.; Krishna, Valerie.; Engel, Michael S. Volume 1; Page 123
  6. ↑ Brune, A.; Kühl, M. (1996-11-01). "pH profiles of the extremely alkaline hindguts of soil-feeding termites (Isoptera: Termitidae) determined with microelectrodes" . Journal of Insect Physiology. 42 (11): 1121–1127. doi:10.1016/S0022-1910(96)00036-4. ISSN   0022-1910.
  7. ↑ Brune, Andreas (March 2014). "Symbiotic digestion of lignocellulose in termite guts" . Nature Reviews Microbiology. 12 (3): 168–180. doi:10.1038/nrmicro3182. ISSN   1740-1534. PMID   24487819. S2CID   5220210.
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