Termopsidae

Termopsidae
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Blattodea
Infraorder:	Isoptera
Parvorder:	Euisoptera
Family:	† Termopsidae Grassé, 1949
Genera
see text

Termopsidae is an extinct family of termites in the order Blattodea. The five extant genera formerly included in Termopsidae ( Archotermopsis , Hodotermopsis , Porotermes , Stolotermes , and Zootermopsis ) now belong in their own distinct families, leaving only extinct taxa in Termopsidae. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Several prehistoric genera are placed herein, known only from fossils. Since only a small part of the diversity of dampwood termites survives, it is rather difficult to assign these to subfamilies. Several seem to represent very ancient members of the family; they may be quite basal Termopsidae, so it is indeed unwarranted to place them into a subfamily at all.

Genera

• Asiatermes Ren, 1995
  • Asiatermes reticulatus Ren, 1995 (Cretaceous, Aptian; Lushangfen Formation, China)
• Cretatermes Emerson, 1967
  • Cretatermes carpenteri Emerson, 1967 (Cretaceous, Cenomanian; Redmond Formation, Canada)
• Huaxiatermes Ren, 1995
  • Huaxiatermes huangi Ren, 1995 (Cretaceous, Aptian; Lushangfen Formation, China)
• Lutetiatermes Schlüter, 1989
  • Lutetiatermes priscus Schlüter, 1989 (Cretaceous, Cenomanian; Bezonnais amber, France)
• Mesotermopsis Engel & Ren, 2003
  • Mesotermopsis incompleta (Ren, 1995) (Cretaceous, Aptian; Lushangfen Formation, China)
  • Mesotermopsis lata (Ren, 1995) (Cretaceous, Aptian; Lushangfen Formation, China)
• Paleotermopsis
  • Paleotermopsis oligocenicus Nel & Paicheler, 1993 (Oligocene, Chattian; Niveau du gypse d'Aix Formation, France)
• Parotermes Scudder, 1883
  • Parotermes insignis Scudder, 1883 (Eocene, Priabonian; Florissant Formation, USA)
• Termopsis Heer, 1849
  • Termopsis bremii Heer, 1849 (Eocene, Priabonian; Baltic Amber, Europe)
  • Termopsis gracilipennis Theobald, 1937 (Oligocene, Rupelian; Salt Formation, Germany)
  • Termopsis mallaszi Pongrácz, 1928 (Miocene, Sarmatian; Tompa, Romania)
  • Termopsis transsylvanica Pongrácz, 1928 (Miocene, Sarmatian; Tompa, Romania)
  • Termopsis ukapirmasi Engel et al., 2007 (Eocene, Priabonian; Baltic Amber, Europe)
• Valditermes Jarzembowski, 1981 – provisionally placed here
  • Valditermes brenanae Jarzembowski, 1981 (Cretaceous, Hauterivian; Weald Clay, England)

Nomenclature

The group was originally described as a subfamily, Termopsinae, by Nils Holmgren in 1911, and was raised to the taxonomic rank of family by Pierre-Paul Grassé in 1949. ^[4]

References

1. Engel, M.S.; Grimaldi, D.A.; Krishna, K. (2009). "Termites (Isoptera): their phylogeny, classification, and rise to ecological dominance". American Museum Novitates (3650): 1–27. hdl:2246/5969.
2. Constantino, Reginaldo (2016). "Termite Database".
3. Wang, Menglin; Hellemans, Simon; Šobotník, Jan; Arora, Jigyasa; Buček, Aleš; Sillam-Dussès, David; Clitheroe, Crystal; Lu, Tomer; Lo, Nathan; Engel, Michael S.; Roisin, Yves; Evans, Theodore A.; Bourguignon, Thomas (2022). "Phylogeny, biogeography and classification of Teletisoptera (Blattaria: Isoptera)" . Systematic Entomology. 47 (4): 581–590. doi:10.1111/syen.12548. ISSN   1365-3113.
4. UNESCO (1962). Termites in the humid tropics: proceedings of the New Delhi symposium, Volume 1960. Humid tropics research. p. 35.