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Termitidae

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Family of termites

Termitidae
Nanotermes isaacae in Cambay amber.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Infraorder: Isoptera
Nanorder: Neoisoptera
Family: Termitidae
Latreille, 1802
Subfamilies

See text

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 and archaea. 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.

Subfamilies

The family contains the following subfamilies:

Family Termitidae Latreille, 1802
subfamily Sphaerotermitinae Engel & Krishna, 2004
subfamily Macrotermitinae Kemner, 1934, nomen protectum (synonyms: Acanthotermitinae Sjöstedt, 1926, nomen rejiciendum ; Odontotermitini Weidner, 1956)
subfamily Foraminitermitinae Holmgren, 1912 (synonym: Pseudomicrotermitinae Holmgren, 1912)
subfamily Apicotermitinae Grassé & Noirot, 1954 (synonym: Indotermitidae Roonwal & Sen Sarma in Roonwal, 1958)
subfamily Microcerotermitinae Holmgren, 1910
subfamily Syntermitinae Engel & Krishna, 2004 (synonym: Cornitermitinae Ensaf et al., 2004, nomen nudum)
subfamily Forficulitermitinae Hellemans, Engel, & Bourguignon, 2024
subfamily Engelitermitinae Romero Arias, Roisin, & Scheffrahn, 2024
subfamily Crepititermitinae Hellemans, Engel, & Bourguignon, 2024
subfamily Protohamitermitinae Hellemans, Engel, & Bourguignon, 2024
subfamily Cylindrotermitinae Hellemans, Engel, & Bourguignon, 2024
subfamily Neocapritermitinae Hellemans, Engel, & Bourguignon, 2024
subfamily Nasutitermitinae Hare, 1937
subfamily Promirotermitinae Hellemans, Engel, & Bourguignon, 2024
subfamily Mirocapritermitinae Kemner, 1934
subfamily Amitermitinae Kemner, 1934
subfamily Cubitermitinae Weidner, 1956
subfamily Termitinae Latreille, 1802 (synonyms: Mirotermitini Weidner, 1956; Capritermitini Weidner, 1956)

Identification

left

Imago forewing and hindwing scales either evenly or closely sized and non-overlapping. Both forewing and hindwing scales have a developed suture with strongly sclerotized and reduced veins. Ocelli of imago typically (but not always) protruding above head capsule.

Pronotum of all castes is "saddled", with a pronounced anterior lobe as a result of the pronotum's anterior corners being depressed. Postclypeus of the worker and imago both swollen and protruding from head capsule

References

  1. Constantino, Reginaldo. "Termite Database".
  2. Ni, Jinfeng; Tokuda, Gaku (November 2013). "Lignocellulose-degrading enzymes from termites and their symbiotic microbiota". Biotechnology Advances. 31 (6): 838–850. doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2013.04.005. ISSN 0734-9750. PMID 23623853.
  3. Breznak JA, Brune A. 1994. Role of microorganisms in the digestion of lignocellulose by termites. Annual Review of Entomology 39(1):453–487
  4. Josens, Guy; Makatia Wango, Solange (2019-02-01). "Niche Differentiation between Two Sympatric Cubitermes Species (Isoptera, Termitidae, Cubitermitinae) Revealed by Stable C and N Isotopes". Insects. 10 (2): 38. doi:10.3390/insects10020038. ISSN 2075-4450. PMC 6409928. PMID 30717082.
  5. Romero Arias, J. (2024). "Mitochondrial phylogenetics position a new Afrotropical termite species into its own subfamily, the Engelitermitinae (Blattodea: Termitidae)". Systematic Entomology. 49 (49): 72–83. Bibcode:2024SysEn..49...72R. doi:10.1111/syen.12607.
  6. 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.
  7. Hellemans, Simon; Rocha, Mauricio M.; Wang, Menglin; Romero Arias, Johanna (2024). "Genomic data provide insights into the classification of extant termites". Nature Communications. 15. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-51028-y. PMC 11306793.
Extant Blattodea families
Corydioidea
Blaberoidea
Blattoidea
Blattoidae
Xylophagodea
Cryptocercoidae
Termitoidae
(termites)
Classification is based on Inward et al. (2007). Italic are paraphyletic groups.
Taxon identifiers
Termitidae


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