Isognathotermes ugandensis kenyae Josens & Deligne, 2025

Josens, Guy, Deligne, Jean, Harry, Myriam, Roy, Virginie, Akama, Pierre D., Coulibaly, Tenon, Dosso, Kanvaly, Goergen, Georg, Hasson, Michel, Kasangij, Patrick Kasangij A, Kifukieto, Carmel, Ru, Bruno Le, Loko, Laura Estelle Yêyinou, Ndiaye, Abdoulaye Baila, Roisin, Yves, Sion, Noémie, Šobotnik, Jan, Stiblik, Petr, Kuenda, Soki Kue Di, Traoré, Saran, Viage, Manuela, Wango, Solange Patricia, Kaymak, Esra, Bourguignon, Thomas & Hellemans, Simon, 2025, An integrative revision of the genus Isognathotermes (Termitidae: Cubitermitinae) with description of seven new species and four new subspecies, European Journal of Taxonomy 1024, pp. 1-197 : 158-159

Isognathotermes ugandensis kenyae Josens & Deligne subsp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Figs 33, 65–66, 69

Diagnosis

This subspecies is best characterised by its mitogenome sequence.

Soldiers and workers do not allow this subspecies to be distinguished from the other three.

The imago is close to that of I. u. malawii subsp. nov. (but their geographical distributions are disjunct); it is, on average, the largest of the four subspecies (ugke, Fig. 65, Table 17) with the longest wings (IWgL = 18.9– 19.5 mm (vs 13.6–18.1 mm for two other subspecies, I. u. malawii is not yet available). It is also the subspecies that comes from the highest altitude ( 1500–2500 m, average = 2200 m); to date, all the samples have come from Kenya.

Etymology

The name kenyae (from Kenya) refers to the country of the type locality.

Material examined

Seven samples from five locations; all six old museum samples examined were initially labelled as Cubitermes ugandensis .

Holotype

KENYA • soldier; Mukuyuni ; 0°1.612′ N, 36°0.303′ E; 13 Aug. 2015; J. Šobotnik leg.; study code: DJ 0599; GenBank no PQ679170 (mitogenome); BE RMCA INS. Iso. 059469.

Paratypes

KENYA • soldier, worker; same data as for holotype; BE RMCA INS.Iso.059941 .

Other material examined

“ EAST AFRICA” ( KENYA?) • worker, ♀ (alate); Molo ?; 0°15′ S, 35°42′ E; 5 Jul. 1914; J. Sokolov (?) leg.; study code: DJ 0658; initially C. ugandensis ; NHMUK .

KENYA • soldier; Thompson falls [= Nyahururu]; 0°2.75′ N, 36°22.25′ E; Mar. 1934; T. Anderson leg.; study code: DJ N132; initially C. ugandensis ; AMNH • soldier, worker, ♀ (alate); Maji-Mazuri ; 1°14′ S, 36°56′ E; 31 Mar. 1952; W.V. Harris leg.; study code: DJ 0666; initially C. ugandensis ; NHMUK 13672002 • soldier, worker, ♂ (alate); Londiani–Makutano (road?); 0°2′ S, 36°20′ E; 18 Feb. 1954; R.M.C. Williams leg.; study code: DJ 0669; initially C. ugandensis ; NHMUK 13672003 • soldier, worker, ♀ (alate); Londiani – Kisumu road; 0°15′ S, 35°30′ E; 19 Feb. 1954; R.M.C. Williams leg.; study code: DJ 0668; initially C. ugandensis ; NHMUK 13672001 • soldier, ♀ (alate); Timboroa–Eldoret road; 0°9′ N, 35°28′ E; 12 May 1954; W.V. Harris leg.; study code: DJ U085; initially C. ugandensis ; NHMUK 13672000 .

Description

Isognathotermes ugandensis kenyae subsp. nov. is best characterised by its mitogenome sequence.

Imago

See the description of the imago of I. ugandensis ( Fuller, 1923) with the particularity that the imago of I. u. kenyae subsp. nov. is clearly the largest of the four subspecies, best seen in a PCA (“ugke” in Fig. 65, Table 17). On average, the imago of this subspecies has the longest wings (IWgL = 18.9– 19.5 mm (vs 13.6–18.1 mm for two other subspecies, I. u. malawii subsp. nov. is not yet available).

Soldier

See the description of the soldier of Isognathotermes ugandensis ( Fuller, 1923) .

Worker

See the description of the worker of Isognathotermes ugandensis ( Fuller, 1923) .

Chorology-ecology

Isognathotermes ugandensis kenyae subsp. nov. is the subspecies found at the highest altitude ( 1500 to 2500 m, average = 2200 m) in the East African montane forest ecoregion of Kenya.

Molecular data

One sample of I. ugandensis kenyae subsp. nov. has recently been collected by one of us (JŠ) in Kenya, enabling its sequencing; it is published alongside this work (GenBank accessions: see Supp. file 3 and ‘Material examined’). Its mitogenome exhibits 1.2% dissimilarity with I. u. burundii subsp. nov. samples (Supp. file 4).