Rubeotermes, 2016

Bourguignon, Thomas, Scheffrahn, Rudolf H., Nagy, Zoltán Tamás, Sonet, Gontran, Host, Benoît & Roisin, Yves, 2016, Towards a revision of the Neotropical soldierless termites (Isoptera: Termitidae): redescription of the genus Grigiotermes Mathews and description of five new genera, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176 (1), pp. 15-35 : 27-30

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1111/zoj.12305
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B687D2-F52D-5C04-53A2-85BBA7807D7D
treatment provided by	Carolina
scientific name	Rubeotermes
status	gen. nov.

Treatment

RUBEOTERMES BOURGUIGNON & ROISIN GEN. NOV.

( FIGS 6A–E View Figure 6 , 7I View Figure 7 , 8F View Figure 8 , 9M, N View Figure 9 , 10 View Figure 10 , 11 View Figure 11 ; TABLE 10)

Type species: Anoplotermes jheringi Holmgren, 1906 , by present designation.

Description

Worker: Large, with head width of about 1 mm. Whitish in colour when alive but turning reddish in alcohol. Head fully covered by many small setae. Fontanelle very small. Coxa of foreleg adorned with a few spines of similar size to tarsal spurs (see arrow, Fig. 6D View Figure 6 ). Fore tibia slightly inflated. Digestive tract as in Figure 8F View Figure 8 . Mesenteron and proctodeum connection truncated, devoid of mixed segment. Enteric valve inserted into a trilobed enteric valve seating.

Imago: Eyes and ocelli of medium size. Fontanelle very small. Pronotum semicircular from above, covered by hundreds of bristles. Posterior margins of meso- and metanotum fairly emarginated, with rounded angles.

Diagnosis

Rubeotermes workers are distinctive from all other South American soldierless termites in that they turn red in alcohol and have some long and thick spines on the forecoxa.

Table 10. Measurements (in mm) of 12 workers from 12 colonies, and one king and one queen of Rubeotermes jheringi comb. nov.

Etymology

We named this genus in reference to its capacity to turn red in alcohol.

RUBEOTERMES JHERINGI ( HOLMGREN, 1906) COMB. NOV. ( FIGS 6A–E View Figure 6 , 7I View Figure 7 , 8F View Figure 8 , 9M, N View Figure 9 , 10 View Figure 10 , 11 View Figure 11 ;

TABLE 10)

Anoplotermes jheringi Holmgren, 1906: 606 .

Anoplotermes jheringi Holmgren, 1906 , in Krishna et al., 2013: 1337.

Material examined

Syntypes: workers and alates, Peru: Chaquimayo , AMNH collection .

Other material examined

French Guiana: ULB collection: Q3/2.1: Kaw Mountain. G165, G176, G234, G266, G442, G453, G471, G499, G503, G615, G633, Nour1.16, Nour1.36, Nour3.3: Nouragues. Q5/4.6, Q5/5.4, Q5-6.4: Petit Saut.

Worker: Head covered by about 50 long bristles as well as 50 tiny ones. Cushions of enteric valve asymmetrically embellished with spines ordered as follows: three adjacent cushions each with about ten spines, two on either side with about four to five spines each, and one without spines. The proximal end of each cushion has a single blunt thorn.

Imago: Fontanelle absent. Ocelli of medium size. Posterior margins of meso- and metanotum deeply emarginated with angles rather sharp.

Ecology and distribution

This species is known from the Kaw Mountain, the Nouragues Reserve, and Petit Saut, French Guiana; and from Chaquimayo, Peru. In French Guiana, workers are commonly encountered while foraging in the soil, feeding on fairly degraded organic matter ( Bourguignon et al., 2009b). This species is also recorded from Paraguay, the island of Trinidad, and Venezuela. We previously referred to this species as Anoplotermes sp. K ( Bourguignon et al., 2009b, 2011a,b, Šobotník et al., 2010).

PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS

The phylogenetic tree of the currently recognized Neotropical Anoplotermes group genera (herein and Bourguignon et al., 2010) and their African and Asian relatives is represented in Figure 11 View Figure 11 . The South American soldierless termites form a monophyletic group nested within African clades. The group formed by Amplucrutermes , Grigiotermes , and Patawatermes is supported as monophyletic, being the sister clade of Hydrecotermes . The monophyly of the genus Anoplotermes is also well supported by posterior probability (0.97). Aparatermes and Ruptitermes are retrieved as sister taxa, with low posterior probability support (0.55), and together form the sister group of Longustitermes with 1.00 posterior probability support.

KEY TO KNOWN GENERA OF NEOTROPICAL APICOTERMITINAE, BASED ON WORKERS

1. Length of mixed segment, measured outside of curve, distinctly longer than width of mesenteron ( Fig. 8C View Figure 8 ).....2

– Mesentero-proctodeal junction transverse or oblique, mixed segment absent or not longer than width of mesenteron ( Fig. 8A, B, D–F View Figure 8 ) ..................................................................................................................... 3

2. Enteric valve with six sclerotized pads ( Fig. 3D, E View Figure 3 ) ................................................ Humutermes gen. nov.

– Enteric valve with up to three sclerotized pads (see Bourguignon et al., 2010) ........... Anoplotermes gen. nov.

3. Worker head pale yellow to black....................................................................................................... 4

– Worker head whitish........................................................................................................................ 5

4. Enteric valve cushions with a group of small scales in their centre, in some cases merging into a single robust spine.............................................................................................................. Aparatermes View in CoL gen. nov.

– Enteric valve without scales................................................................................ Ruptitermes View in CoL gen. nov.

5. Forecoxa with a few spines ( Fig. 6D View Figure 6 ), workers turn red in alcohol............................. Rubeotermes gen. nov.

– Workers otherwise ........................................................................................................................... 6

6. Fore tibia enlarged and deeply concave with glandular structure proximally.............. Tetimatermes View in CoL gen. nov.

– Fore tibia without glandular structure.................................................................................................7

7. Enteric valve with distal spines..........................................................................................................8

– Enteric valve without spines ............................................................................................................ 11

8. Worker elongated, enteric valve with a continuous crown of spines apically (see Bourguignon et al., 2010)........ ................................................................................................................. Longustitermes View in CoL gen. nov.

– Enteric valve with spines on each pad.................................................................................................9

9. Forelegs enlarged ( Fig. 2B View Figure 2 ), enteric valve pads bearing numerous polygonal scales, apical ones bordered with spicules merging into a short spine ( Figs 2C View Figure 2 , 7B View Figure 7 ) .................................................. Amplucrutermes gen. nov.

– Forelegs slender, enteric valve with long, well-sclerotized apical spines....................................................10

10. Enteric valve pads broad, bearing many small spines along their edges, less densely spiny in the middle ( Figs 1A View Figure 1 , 7A View Figure 7 )................................................................................................................ Grigiotermes View in CoL gen. nov.

– Enteric valve pads narrow, with distal tuft of long spines ( Figs 5A, B View Figure 5 , 7G, H View Figure 7 ) .......... Patawatermes gen. nov.

11. P3 with a ring of 15–20 pectinate paddles located close to the junction with enteric valves (see Scheffrahn, 2013) .......................................................................................................... Compositermes gen. nov.

– P3 without armature...................................................................................... Hydrecotermes gen. nov.

Finally, the resolution obtained for basal nodes was too low to infer the relationships amongst the five clades: Anoplotermes , Humutermes , Rubeotermes , Grigiotermes View in CoL + Amplucrutermes + Patawatermes + Hydrecotermes , and Longustitermes View in CoL + Aparatermes View in CoL + Ruptitermes View in CoL .