Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2018 | 10(11):
12582–12588
New species of termite Pericapritermes
travancorensis sp. nov. (Isoptera: Termitidae:
Termitinae) from India
Jobin Mathew 1 & Chinnu Ipe 2
1,2 Department of Zoology, CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala 686001, India
1 jobin@cmscollege.ac.in (corresponding
author), 2 chinnurupen@gmail.com
Abstract: A new species of Pericapritermes,
P. travancorensis sp. nov. (Isoptera, Termitidae, Termitinae), is
described from Kerala, India, based on the characters of the king, queen,
imago, soldiers, and workers.
Morphological measurements of the king, queen, imago, soldiers, and
workers are given with suitable illustrations.
List of species of the genus Pericapritermes
from the Oriental region is provided.
Keywords: Isoptera, Kottayam
District, new species, Pericapritermes, Termitidae.
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3389.10.11.12582-12588 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:20ABAF80-205F-4DF8-ABC7-06D387C9CE33
Editor: R. Sundararaj,
Institute of Wood Science & Technology, Bengaluru,
India. Date
of publication: 26 October 2018 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms
# 3389 | Received 02 March 2017 | Final received 28 August 2018 | Finally
accepted 24 September 2018
Citation: Mathew, J. & C. Ipe (2018). New species of termite Pericapritermes
travancorensis sp. nov. (Isoptera: Termitidae: Termitinae) from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(11): 12582–12588; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3389.10.11.12582-12588
Copyright: © Mathew & Ipe 2018. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium,
reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and
the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank Edwin Jose, T.R. Sreeraj, Nebin Ninan, and Shanavas Moitheen for their help
in termite survey and sample collection.
The authors are obliged to the officials of Zoological Survey of India
(ZSI), Kolkata, for facilities and encouragement.
India
is a region rich in termite diversity. Roonwal & Chhotani (1989)
listed and comprehensively described 337 species of termites under 59 genera
from the Indian sub-region (comprising of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka). Krishna
et al. (2013) listed 290 species of termites belonging to six families and 54
genera from India. Mathew (2004)
reported 56 species under 23 genera belonging to four families of termites from
Kerala. The current termite fauna of
Kerala can be estimated to be 66 species belonging to three families and 29
genera (Amina et al. 2016).
Silvestri (1914) described the genus Pericapritermes
based on Pericapritermes urgens. The genus has been reported
from the Ethiopian region by Snyder (1949) and Emerson (1955). The studies of Krishna (1968) transferred
many species of the genus Capritermes with Pericapritermes, collected from Indo-Malayan region
and New Guinea. Presently, Pericapritermes is known from the Oriental, Ethiopian,
Palearctic, and Papuan regions (Thomas et al. 2008); Krishna et al. (2013)
listed 40 species under the genus Pericapritermes. The oriental region contains 24 species in
which six species are known from India (Table 3).
The soldiers of Pericapritermes
are the most advanced in the Capritermes group
in that their mandibles are robust and strong.
The left is twisted and arched in the middle, with its apex blunt, and
the right is flat, straight, and blade-like; in defence,
they are locked together and released with a loud click, flipping the soldier
several inches through the air (Thomas et al. 2008). The head is flat, the forehead is not steep,
and the frontal gland is much reduced.
The labrum of the soldier is straight at the anterior margin and with
small anterio-lateral points. Imago has a large, oval fontanelle
(Roonwal & Chhotani
1989). The apical tooth is shorter than
the fused first plus second marginal tooth, the posterior margin of the fused
first plus second marginal tooth is elongated and sinuate, and the third
marginal tooth is prominent (Roonwal & Chhotani 1989). The
members of this genus are soil feeders.
Soil-feeding termites constitute 38.3% of Termitidae
species, which dominate several subfamilies (Jones & Eggleton
2011). Pericapritermes
build subterranean diffuse gallery systems that consist of clusters of
small cells connected with tunnels, with the cells usually adjacent to
underground hard materials.
Material and Methods
Specimens were collected from CMS
College Campus, Kottayam District of Kerala State, southern India, which is situated between 9.5960N
76.5200E. The area is
characterized by humid tropical climate with a mean annual rainfall around
3,600mm, and temperature ranging from 20–37 0C. CMS College Campus contains 35 acres of
protected land. The tropical climate of
this region supports rich biodiversity.
Collection and Identification of Termites
All the termites encountered in the
colony were collected using an aspirator and preserved in 80% alcohol. Measurements and photographs were taken using
Labomed Luxeo 4D binocular
microscope with attached camera and PixelPro software
at magnification 8X–35X. Morphological
terminology, measurements, and indices for describing soldiers, workers, and
imago follow Roonwal & Chhotani
(1989), and Sands (1998). Important
measurements and indices used in the study were total body length with wing,
total body length without wing, length of head to lateral base of mandibles, maximum
width of head with eye, maximum diameter of compound eye, maximum diameter of
lateral ocellus, minimum eye-ocellus
distance, maximum length of labrum, maximum width of labrum, length of left
mandible, length of right mandible, maximum length of Pronotum,
maximum width of Pronotum, minimum length of postmentum, maximum width of postmentum,
minimum width of postmentum, minimum length of hindwing without scale, minimum length of forewing without
scale, head width/head length index, and mandible length/head length
index. The population study was done
using direct count method.
Museum details
The holotype
and paratypes are preserved in 80% alcohol and deposited
in the Zoology Museum, Department of Zoology, CMS College, Kottayam,
Kerala, India.
Pericapritermes travancorensis sp. nov.
(Image 1)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E49C1081-D644-4E51-877A-E147BD91B7C1
Material examined
Holotype: CMSZMAI-101, Soldier, 08.xi.2015, CMS College Campus, Chungam, Kottayam, Kerala, India,
9.5960N & 76.5200E, 2.97m, coll. Jobin
Mathew.
Paratypes: CMSZMAI-102, Soldier; CMSZMAI-103, Imago; CMSZMAI-104, King;
CMSZMAI-105, Queen; CMSZMAI-106, Worker; 08.xi.2015, CMS College Campus, Chungam, Kottayam, Kerala, India,
9.5960N & 76.5200E, 2.97m, coll. Jobin
Mathew.
Diagnosis
Five species of Pericapritermes
were known from India. Diagnostic characters of the soldiers from India
with their distribution are given in the Table 4. Pericapritermes
found in the Indian subcontinent classified as large, medium and smaller
species. P. dunensis
was the only species coming under the medium group (Roonwal
& Chhotani, 1989)
P. travancorensis sp. nov. is a medium sized termite
showed affinity with P. dunensis. P. dunensis was described from
Dehra Dun, India; and has later been reported from Meghalaya, Arunachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh West Bengal and Bhutan (Roonwal,
M.L. & Sen-Sarma, 1960; Roonwal & Chhotani, 1989).
Imago of P. dunensis have body length with
wings 14.10-15.10 mm, body length without wings 7.40-8.00 mm and length to the
base of mandibles 0.90-1.00mm. Whereas In P. travancorensis
sp. nov. body
length with wings 10.77-11.23, body length without wings 5.58 – 6.45 mm and
length to base of mandibles 0.78-0.82. P. travancorensis sp. nov.
can be easily distinguished from P. Dunensis by larger soldier and mandible of the soldier.
In this species right mandible is equal or slightly longer than left (Tables
1 & 3). The imago of the P. travancorensis sp. nov. smaller than the P. Dunensis, fontanelle large
and sub-squarish.
Moreover P. dunensis confined to the
northeast of India.
Table 1. Table showing the various
measurements of CMSZMAI-101 holotype of P. travancorensis sp. nov. (in mm)
|
Characters |
Soldier |
|
Total body Length (Without wings) |
7.10 |
|
Total Head Length |
4.32 |
|
Head Width |
1.40 |
|
Head Length (Without Mandibles) |
2.63 |
|
Left Mandible Length |
1.73 |
|
Right Mandible Length |
1.74 |
|
Labrum Length |
0.24 |
|
Labrum Width |
0.29 |
|
Pronotum Length |
0.35 |
|
Pronotum Width |
0.82 |
|
Postmentum Length |
1.16 |
|
Postmentum Width Maximum |
0.42 |
|
Postmentum Width Minimum |
0.28 |
|
Head W/Head L |
0.53 |
|
Mandible L /Head L |
0.66 |
Table 2. Table showing the various
measurements of CMSZMAI-102, 10 Soldiers; CMSZMAI-103, 4 Imagos;
CMSZMAI-104, 1 King; CMSZMAI-105, 1 Queen; CMSZMAI-106 soldier, 10 workers of P. travancorensis sp. nov. (in mm). Measurements are based on 1 king,
1 queen, 4 imagos, 10 soldiers, and 10 workers.
|
Characters |
King |
Queen |
Imago |
Soldier |
Worker |
|
Total body length (with wings) |
- |
_ |
10.77–11.23 |
_ |
_ |
|
Total body length (without wings) |
6.36 |
17.82 |
5.58–6.45 |
6.29–7.30 |
4.48–5.33 |
|
Total head Length |
1.27 |
1.28 |
1.26–1.34 |
4.18–4.43 |
1.26–1.36 |
|
Head width |
1.23 |
1.22 |
1.18–1.23 |
1.35–1.51 |
0.93–1.06 |
|
Head length (without mandibles) |
0.82 |
0.79 |
0.78–0.82 |
2.49–2.73 |
0.74–0.83 |
|
Left mandible length |
_ |
_ |
_ |
1.65–1.83 |
_ |
|
Right mandible length |
_ |
_ |
_ |
1.71–1.87 |
_ |
|
Maximum diameter of eye |
0.25 |
0.24 |
0.24–0.30 |
|
_ |
|
Eye ocilla
distance |
0.13 |
0.11 |
0.11–0.13 |
|
|
|
Ocellar diameter |
0.11 |
0.12 |
0.11–0.13 |
|
|
|
Labrum length |
0.30 |
0.31 |
0.29–0.31 |
0.22–0.26 |
0.34–0.36 |
|
Labrum width |
0.29 |
0.32 |
0.29–0.32 |
0.27–0.31 |
0.41–0.43 |
|
Pronotum length |
0.64 |
0.63 |
0.61–0.68 |
0.29–0.39 |
0.19–0.24 |
|
Pronotum width |
1.12 |
1.16 |
1.04–1.16 |
0.74–0.92 |
0.53–0.62 |
|
Postmentum length |
0.27 |
0.26 |
0.26–0.30 |
1.14–1.19 |
0.27–0.33 |
|
Postmentum width (maximum) |
0.32 |
0.35 |
0.34–0.39 |
0.40–0.45 |
0.25–0.30 |
|
Postmentum width (minimum) |
0.34 |
0.33 |
0.32–0.36 |
0.26–0.30 |
_ |
|
Head width / Head length |
1.5 |
1.54 |
1.46–1.54 |
0.55–0.59 |
1.24–1.35 |
|
Mandible length /Head length |
_ |
_ |
_ |
0.65–0.73 |
_ |
|
Fore wing length |
_ |
_ |
8.47–9.10 |
_ |
_ |
|
Hind wing length |
_ |
_ |
7.75–8.46 |
_ |
_ |
Description
Holotype: Soldier
Head-capsule yellowish-brown,
uniformly coloured, antennae yellowish darker
anteriorly, labrum and pronotum pale with yellowish
tinge, left mandible blackish, right mandible reddish-brown, legs and abdomen
pale yellowish; head and body sparsely hairy; total body length 7.10 mm;
head-capsule sub-rectangular, sides sub-straight (length to base of mandibles
2.63 mm, width 1.4 mm, index width/length 0.56 mm); in profile frons sloping in
front and shallowly depressed medially, median suture present, not extending up
to fontanelle, fontanelle
minute, circular, situated anteriorly, occipito-fontanelle
distance 1.87 mm; antennae 14-segmented, segment 4 smallest; labrum fleshy,
anterior margin depressed medially, antero-lateral
corners produced into small, pointed tips; mandibles strongly
asymmetrical, longer than half the
length of head-capsule, left mandible strongly twisted at middle, with a spoon
like tip, right blade-like tip pointed and weakly out curved apically, longer
than left mandible (length: left 1.73 mm, right 1.74 mm, index left mandible
length/head-length 0.66mm) (Fig. 1D); postmentum long
club-shaped, weakly narrowed at waist (length 1.16 mm, max. width 0.42 mm,
width at waist 0.28 mm) Pronotum saddle shaped,
anterior margin convex, posterior margin with a weak median notch (length 0.35
mm, width 0.82 mm) (Figs. 6–12, Table
1).
Colony
The termite colony was found in
porous laterite soil. The colony
consists of clusters of small cells connected with tunnels, with the cells
usually adjacent to small crevices of the laterite stones. The colony occupied an area of 3697cm3
and was located between the depth of 3.6–9.6 cm from
the surface. The royal chamber is an
enlarged cell with smooth, almost polished, and quite clean inner surface. It contains the royal pair and a number of soldiers
and workers. Maximum number of workers
and soldiers were observed below 3.6cm.
Foraging workers were noticed 1.5m away from the colony. The numbers of individuals of different
castes of the colony were as follows: king - 1, queen - 1, imago - 5, workers -
1265, soldiers - 119, immature workers – 1153, and immature soldiers - 86.
Paratype: Imago
Head dark brown, postclypeus,
labrum, antennae and legs brownish-yellow, pronotum
dark brown paler anteriorly, abdomen dark brown above and yellowish below; head
and body with a coat of fine short hairs and several long hairs; total
body-length with wings 10.77–11.23 mm and without wings 5.58–6.45 mm;
head-capsule subcircular (length to base of mandibles
0.78–0.82 mm, width with eyes 1.18–1.23 mm); fontanelle
golden yellow, slightly depressed around fontanelle; epicranial suture indistinct; eyes round, strongly
projecting, nearly equidistant from antennae and ocelli,
(max. diameter 0.24-0.30 mm); ocelli oval, 0.11–0.13
mm long; eye ocillar distance 0.11–0.13 mm; postclypeus swollen, hairy; antennae with 15 segments;
segment 3 shortest; 4 longer than 5 and 5 subequal to
3; mandibles with a prominent apical teeth and a pair of teeth basaly; pronotum flat, length
0.61–0.68 mm, width 1.04–1.16 mm, anteriorly weakly notched medially and
posteriorly slightly emarginated; postmentum subsquarish length 0.26–0.30 mm, width 0.34–0.39 mm; wings
brownish, membrane with distinct cubitus, media, and
radius veins, in forewing and hindwing media arising
from radius inside wing-membrane near to the wing scale, forewing-length
8.47–9.10 mm, hindwing-length 7.75–8.46 mm; body
dimensions and colouration of king similar to imago
but with slightly enlarged paler abdomen;total body
length of queen 17.82 mm, abdomen whitish with yellowish tinge nearer to the sclerite (Figs. 1–5, Table 2).
Paratype: Soldier
Colour and characters same as holotype; total
body length 6.29–7.30 mm; head-capsule sub-rectangular, sides sub-straight
(length to base of mandibles 2.49–2.73 mm, width 1.35–1.51 mm, index
width/length 0.55–0.59 mm); in profile frons sloping in front and shallowly
depressed medially, median suture present, not extending up to fontanelle, fontanelle minute,
circular, situated anteriorly, occipito-fontanelle
distance 1.80–1.99 mm; antennae 14-segmented, segment 4 smallest; labrum
fleshy, anterior margin depressed medially, antero-lateral
corners produced into small, pointed tips; mandibles strongly
asymmetrical, longer than half the
length of head-capsule, left mandible strongly twisted at middle, with a spoon
like tip, right blade-like tip pointed and weakly out curved apically, longer
than left mandible (length: left 1.65–1.83 mm, right 1.71–1.87 mm, index left
mandible length/head-length 0.65–0.73 mm) (Fig. 1D); postmentum
long club-shaped, weakly narrowed at waist (length 1.14–1.19 mm, max. width
0.40–0.45 mm, width at waist 0.26–0.30 mm) Pronotum
saddle shaped, anterior margin convex, posterior margin with a weak median
notch (length 0.29–0.39 mm, width 0.74–0.92 mm) (Figs. 6-12, Table 2).
Paratype: Worker
Head-capsule pale yellowish, antennae
yellowish paler basely, pronotum and legs creamish, abdomen pale, intestinal contents clearly
visible; head sparsely and body moderately hairy; total body length 4.48–5.33
mm; head capsule sub-circular (length to base of mandibles 0.74–0.83 mm, max.
width 0.93–1.06 mm); fontanelle indistinct; antennae
with 14 segments; segment 4 shortest; post clypeus swollen, length half of
width; Pronotum saddle-shaped; length 0.19–0.24 mm,
width 0.53–0.62 mm; anterior margin rounded, posterior margin with a median
notch (Table 2).
Etymology
The name travancorensis
was taken from the name of the area from where the specimens were
collected. The specimens were collected
from the CMS College campus, a 200 year old
College. CMS College was the first
college in the Kingdom of Travancore.
Distribution
Pericapritermes travancorensis sp. nov. is currently known from the CMS College campus, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
Table 3. Described Pericapritermes
species, type localities and distribution from oriental region
|
|
Species |
Type locality |
Distribution |
|
1 |
P. assamensis (Mathur & Thapa, 1965) |
West Bengal |
India |
|
2 |
P. brachygnathus (John, 1925) |
Sumatra,
Indonesia |
Malaysia, Indonesia |
|
3 |
P. buitenzorgi
(Holmgren,
1914) |
Java, Indonesia |
Malaysia, Indonesia |
|
4 |
P. ceylonicus
(Holmgren,
1911) |
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka |
|
5 |
P. dolichocephalus
(John,
1925) |
Selangor, Malaysia |
Malaysia, Indonesia |
|
6 |
P. dunensis (Roonwal
& Sen-Sarma, 1960) |
Dehradun, Uttarakhand |
India |
|
7 |
P. durga
(Roonwal & Chhotani, 1962) |
Cherrapunji, Meghalaya |
India |
|
8 |
P. fuscotibialis
(Light,
1931) |
Hong Kong, China |
China |
|
9 |
P. gutianensis
Li &
Ma, 1983 |
Fujian, China |
China |
|
10 |
P. hepuensis
Gao
& Yang, 1990 |
Guangxi, China |
China |
|
11 |
P. latignathus (Holmgren, 1914) |
Tjibodas, Java |
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand,
Vietnam, China, Malaysia |
|
12 |
P. Modiglianii
(Silvestri, 1922) |
Sumatra, Indonesia |
Indonesia |
|
13 |
P. mohri
(Kemner, 1934) |
Buitenzorg, Indonesia |
Indonesia, Malaysia |
|
14 |
P. nitobei
(Shiraki, 1909) |
Maruyama, Taiwan |
Sumatra, Indonesia |
|
15 |
P. paetensis
(Oshima, 1920) |
Luzon, Philippines |
Philippines |
|
16 |
P. parvus
Bourguignon
& Roisin, 2008 |
Irian Jaya, Indonesia |
Indonesia |
|
17 |
P. perparvus (Holmgren, 1911) |
Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka |
|
18 |
P. planiusculus Ping & Xu,
1988 |
Guizhou, China |
China |
|
19 |
P. semarangi (Holmgren, 1913) |
Semarang, Java |
Bangladesh,Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China |
|
20 |
P. speciosus (Haviland,
1898) |
Borneo Malaysia |
Indonesia, Malaysia |
|
21 |
P. tetraphilus (Silvestri,
1922) |
Rangamati, Bangladesh |
India, Bangladesh, China, Burma |
|
22 |
P. topslipensis Thakur, 1976 |
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu |
India |
|
23 |
P. wuzhishanensis
(Li, 1982) |
HainanIsland, China |
China |
|
24 |
P. travancorensis
sp. nov. |
Kerala, India |
India |
Table 4. Diagnostic characters of
soldiers of the different species of Pericapritermes from
India with their distribution
|
|
Name |
Characters |
Distribution |
|
1 |
P. assamensis |
Head capsule yellowish-brown, darker
anteriorly, head length without mandibles 2.09-2.28 mm, head-width 1.19–1.27
mm, left mandible length 1.19–1.27 mm, pronotum
width 0.72–0.91 mm. |
Assam, West Bengal |
|
2 |
P. dunensis |
Head capsule yellowish-brown to brown,
head length without mandibles 2.30–2.50 mm, head-width 1.30–1.45 mm, left
mandible length 1.43–1.70 mm, pronotum width
0.80–0.88 mm. |
Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh West Bengal |
|
3 |
P. durga |
Head capsule yellow to pale brown, head
length without mandibles 2.45–3.05 mm, head width 1.45–2.00 mm, left mandible
length 1.45–2.00 mm. |
Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh Manipur |
|
4 |
P. tetraphilus |
Head capsule yellow to reddish-yellow,
head length without mandibles 2.45–3.06 mm, head width 1.48–1.70 mm, left
mandibles length 1.60–1.84 mm, pronotum width
0.90-1.13 mm. |
Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh |
|
5 |
P. topslipensis |
Head capsule pale yellow to deep straw
yellow, head length without mandibles 2.5–2.75 mm, head width 1.32–1.41 mm,
left Mandibles length 1.45–1.48 mm, pronotum width
0.85–0.90 mm. |
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka |
|
6 |
P. travancorensis sp. nov. |
Head capsule yellowish-brown, head
length without mandibles 2.39–2.73mm, head width 1.35–1.51 mm, left mandible
length 1.65–1.83 mm, pronotum width 0.74–0.92 mm. |
Kerala (Kottayam
District) |
Key to the soldiers of the Indian
species of pericapritermes
1 Smaller
species: Head-length with mandibles less than 4.0mm ………………………….............................................................
2
- Head
length without mandibles 2.09–2.28mm, head width 1.19–1.27 mm, mandible length
1.32– 1.37 mm ..... P. assamensis
2 Medium
sized species: Generally smaller in size. Head-length with mandibles 4.00–4.50
mm ........................................ 3
- Head
length without mandibles 2.30–2.50 mm, head width 1.30–1.45 mm, Left mandible
length 1.43–1.70 mm……
..................................................................................................................................................................................
P. dunensis
- Head-length
with mandibles 4.18–4.43 mm, head length without mandibles 2.49–2.73 mm, head
width 1.35-1.51 mm, left
mandible length 1.65–1.83 mm
…..................................................................................……………....
P. travancorensis sp.
nov.
3 Generally
larger in size. Head-length with mandibles 4.5–5.0 mm, head length without
mandibles 2.45–3.05 mm, head
width 1.45–2.00 mm, left mandible length 1.45–2.00 mm. Anterio-lateral
corners of labrum small …………………………….… 1
- Body
weakly hairy, with fewer longer hairs
………………………………………………...........................................................................
4
- Head-capsule
generally larger, head length without mandibles 2.45–3.06 mm head width
1.48–1.70 mm. Left mandible-
length 1.60–1.84 mm, Antennae with segment 4 subequal to 2
.............................................................................
P.
tetraphilus
- Head-capsule
generally smaller, head length without mandibles 2.5–2.75 mm, width 1.32–1.41
mm left mandible length
1.45–1.48
mm Antennae with segment 4 shorter than 2
....................................................................................
P. topslipensis
4 Body
densely hairy with many long hairs, Labrum with anterior margin convex and antero-lateral corners minute. Segment
4 of antennae shorter than 2. Pronotum
not emarginate anteriorly
.......................................................................... .P. durga
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