Zootermopsis angusticollis | |
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Pacific Coast dampwood termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis, British Columbia | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Blattodea |
Infraorder: | Isoptera |
Family: | Archotermopsidae |
Genus: | Zootermopsis |
Species: | Z. angusticollis |
Binomial name | |
Zootermopsis angusticollis Hagen, 1858 | |
Zootermopsis angusticollis is a species of termite (Isoptera) in the family Archotermopsidae, a group known as the Pacific dampwood termites, or the rottenwood termites. [1] As their name suggests, the dampwood termites can only survive by living off of wood that contains high amounts of moisture. They are found along the wet environments of the Pacific coast of North America. Most are found in the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Nevada and in southern British Columbia. [2] Termites are well known to be destroyers of wood, and although the dampwood termites can cause some damage, they are not as notoriously known to cause as much damage to buildings as the drywood termites. They occasionally have been carried to other parts of the country through wood shipments, but have not been able to become established in these areas due to undesirable environmental conditions. [1]
Zootermopsis angusticollis is a hemimetabolous, diploid species. Upon hatching from their egg, they are quite similar to adults except for their lack of genitalia. Their series of morphological instars allows them to increase in size until they reach their adult stage. [3]
Like all other termites, the dampwood termites live in eusocial colonies that contain workers, soldiers, nymphs (semi-mature young), and both male and female reproductive individuals. [4] When a colony is found, it is typically the nymphs that are observed. The winged individuals are light brown with dark brown leathery wings, whereas the nymphs are cream colored with a dark abdomen. [1] The dampwood termites are some of the largest termites in North America. [1]
An important sign to identifying dampwood termite infestations is their unique fecal pellets. They are approximately 1 mm in length and slightly hexagonal. [1]
Unlike the more common drywood termites, the dampwood termites are very tolerant of wet conditions and build their colonies in damp wood such as rotting stumps and logs or other types of wood debris from coniferous trees. [5] [6] Individuals living within the colony will live the entirety of their life within the same piece of wood. They will never leave to forage, as the wood is also their food source. [2] However, winged or alate females will leave on a mating flight in order to fulfill their primary role of the queen. [2] Winged individuals are known to be great fliers and can reach distances of up to 350 meters. [5] When the colony becomes too large for its habitat, it will swarm, however, this puts them at risk for exposure to pathogens and possible increased mortality. [7] Swarms only contain about 50-60 individuals. [1]
Members of the colony go through a series of polymorphic instars throughout their lifetime. [8] Cannibalism is found within the termite species in order to rid the colony of dead or injured individuals that may disrupt movement. [8] Individuals warn colony members by creating sounds through convulsive movements that move their body up and down to strike the floor and ceiling of the nest. [9]
Zootermopsis angusticollis are hemimetabolous, diploid insects. [4] Once a male and female have selected one another during their mating flights, they proceed to occupy a hole which they will then seal. Mating takes place within two weeks. [1] After a mated queen lays her eggs, about 15–20 days later, a colony is established. [10] Approximately 12 eggs are laid at once [1] The queen, a mated female, is monogamous, and will lay her eggs in spurts followed by periods of inactivity. [8] Egg production in termite queens is positively correlated with the size of the queen who then becomes wingless after her Nuptial flight. [2] Termite queens are able to live for decades with the longest recorded length of 28.5 years. [2] In relation to size, mature queens are on average larger than male kings, making them easier to identify within a colony. [2] Within the colony, other female workers do not reproduce or mate as their ovaries become inactive in the presence of pheromones produced by the queen. [10]
Unlike the eusocial order Hymenoptera, termite colonies inbreed which has been found to increase immunity to pathogens that may be exposed to the colony through introduction of outside members. Outbreeding studies performed with Z. angusticollis and colonies that are genetically dissimilar have resulted in higher mortality rates among the colony. Therefore, Z. angusticollis inbreeding and monogamous behaviors help them to avoid outbreeding depression. [4]
Zootermopsis angusticolis are known to contain many different species of symbiont microbials within their hindgut that help to digest the wood they primarily consume. It can be argued that this species may be one of the best studied of the lower termites in terms of hindgut symbionts. The symbionts and the termite are thought to have co-evolved with one another. This specific species of termite has been studies for almost 100 years. Protists found within the termites hindgut include many species from the genus Trichonympha such as : Hexmastix temopsidis, Tricercomitus termopsidis, Trichomitopsis termopsidis, Trichonypha campanula, Trichonympha collaris, Trichonympha sphaerica and Streblomastis strix. [11]
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.
Trophallaxis is the transfer of food or other fluids among members of a community through mouth-to-mouth (stomodeal) or anus-to-mouth (proctodeal) feeding. Along with nutrients, trophallaxis can involve the transfer of molecules such as pheromones, organisms such as symbionts, and information to serve as a form of communication. Trophallaxis is used by some birds, gray wolves, vampire bats, and is most highly developed in eusocial insects such as ants, wasps, bees, and termites.
Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach lineage, cladistically making them cockroaches as well. The Blattodea and the mantis are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. Blattodea includes approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera.
Reticulitermes flavipes, the eastern subterranean termite, is the most common termite found in North America. These termites are the most economically important wood destroying insects in the United States and are classified as pests. They feed on cellulose material such as the structural wood in buildings, wooden fixtures, paper, books, and cotton. A mature colony can range from 20,000 workers to as high as 5 million workers and the primary queen of the colony lays 5,000 to 10,000 eggs per year to add to this total.
Trichonympha is a genus of single-celled, anaerobic parabasalids of the order Hypermastigia that is found exclusively in the hindgut of lower termites and wood roaches. Trichonympha’s bell shape and thousands of flagella make it an easily recognizable cell. The symbiosis between lower termites/wood roaches and Trichonympha is highly beneficial to both parties: Trichonympha helps its host digest cellulose and in return receives a constant supply of food and shelter. Trichonympha also has a variety of bacterial symbionts that are involved in sugar metabolism and nitrogen fixation.
Mastotermes darwiniensis, common names giant northern termite and Darwin termite, is a termite species found only in northern Australia. It is the most primitive extant termite species. Contrary to common belief, this species does not form mounds as the nests are subterranean and inconspicuous. Colonies will readily occupy and infest decomposing wood but primarily live in a complex subterranean network of tunnels and galleries which they use to travel to new food sites. Colonies may eventually split and form isolated satellite colonies.
The Macrotermitinae, the fungus-growing termites, constitute a subfamily of the family Termitidae that is only found within the Old World tropics.
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.
Kalotermitidae is a family of termites, commonly known as drywood termites. Kalotermitidae includes 21 genera and 419 species. The family has a cosmopolitan circumtropical distribution, and is found in functionally arid environments.
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.
Incisitermes minor is a species of termite in the family Kalotermitidae known commonly as the western drywood termite. It is native to western North America, including the western United States and northern Mexico. It has been found in many other parts of the United States, all the way to the East Coast. It has been reported from Toronto. It has been introduced to Hawaii. It has been noted in China and it is not uncommon in Japan. This is an economically important pest of wooden structures, including houses. In California and Arizona alone its economic impact is estimated to be about $250 million per year.
Zootermopsis is a genus of termites in the Dampwood termite family (Archotermopsidae). They are mostly found in western North America, ranging from Canada to Mexico, with the exception of Z. nevadensis, which has become established in Japan. They live in rotting wood, commonly inhabiting fallen or dead trees in North America's temperate rain forests, where they break down the wood's cellulose with the help of symbiotic protozoa and bacteria in their stomachs. The life and reproductive cycles of these termites are relatively normal compared to other members of its family. Species can be identified using the shape and position of the subsidiary tooth in all non-soldier castes, allowing a more certain identification than the previous method, which was based on the more ambiguous morphology of soldiers.
The Nevada termite is a eusocial species of termite (Isoptera) in the family Archotermopsidae, a group known as the dampwood termites. It is a hemimetabolous organism.
Social immunity is any antiparasite defence mounted for the benefit of individuals other than the actor. For parasites, the frequent contact, high population density and low genetic variability makes social groups of organisms a promising target for infection: this has driven the evolution of collective and cooperative anti-parasite mechanisms that both prevent the establishment of and reduce the damage of diseases among group members. Social immune mechanisms range from the prophylactic, such as burying beetles smearing their carcasses with antimicrobials or termites fumigating their nests with naphthalene, to the active defenses seen in the imprisoning of parasitic beetles by honeybees or by the miniature 'hitchhiking' leafcutter ants which travel on larger worker's leaves to fight off parasitoid flies. Whilst many specific social immune mechanisms had been studied in relative isolation, it was not until Sylvia Cremer et al.'s 2007 paper "Social Immunity" that the topic was seriously considered. Empirical and theoretical work in social immunity continues to reveal not only new mechanisms of protection but also implications for understanding of the evolution of group living and polyandry.
Archotermopsidae is a family of termites in the order Blattodea, known as dampwood termites, formerly included within the family Termopsidae. They constitute a small and rather primitive family with two extant genera and 5 living species. They may rarely infest structures but do not usually do so, nor do they cause extensive damage to buildings or other man-made structures unless said structure has been sufficiently damaged such as by water. As their name implies, they eat wood that is not dried out, perhaps even rotting, and consequently of little use to humans.
Zootermopsis laticeps, known generally as Arizona dampwood termite, is a species of termite in the family Archotermopsidae. Other common names include the wide-headed rottenwood termite and southwestern rottenwood termite. It is found in arid parts of south-western North America.
Prorhinotermes simplex, the Cuban subterranean termite, is a species of lower termite in the genus Prorhinotermes. It is found in Colombia. Like others in its genus, it is a single-site nesting termite that moves to a new food source when theirs is gone, and it lacks a true worker caste.
Reticulitermes speratus, the Japanese termite, is a species of subterranean termite found in Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. It eats decayed wood. It is adapted to withstand the cold temperatures of the temperate regions it inhabits.
The social network of colonies of social insects have been extensively studied as model biological networks.
Pterotermes is a monotypic genus of termites in the family Kalotermitidae. Pterotermes occidentis is the single species in the genus. This termite lives in the extremely dry conditions found in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern United States, Baja California and Mexico. It feeds on dry wood and lives entirely within a single piece of timber.