Termes

Head of soldier of Termes hospes, copyright Rebecca Bath.

Belongs within: Termitinae.

Termes is a pantropical genus of termites whose soldiers have long snapping mandibles. The molecular phylogenetic analysis published by Inward et al. (2007) indicated that Termes is paraphyletic to a clade of various snapping termite genera from Australia.

<==Termes Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |  i. s.: T. argutus M91
    |         T. australis (n. d.) H42
    |         T. baculiformis [=Mirotermes baculiformis] S57
    |         T. jarmuranus M91
    |         T. marginipennis H42
    |         T. melvillensis M91
    |         T. rutoti Z02
    |         T. tubicola V25
    |--T. borneensis IVE07
    `--+--*T. fatalis Linnaeus 1758 M91, IVE07, M91 [=T. fatale M91]
       `--+--+--T. cornis IVE07
          |  `--T. hospes IVE07
          `--+--T. propinquus IVE07
             `--+--Ephelotermes Miller 1991 IVE07, M91
                |    |--*E. melachoma Miller 1991 M91
                |    |--E. argutus (Hill 1929) [=Mirotermes argutus] M91
                |    |--E. cheeli (Mjöberg 1920) (see below for synonymy) M91
                |    |--E. paleatus Miller 1991 M91
                |    |--E. persimilis (Gay 1971) [=Termes persimilis] M91
                |    `--E. taylori (Hill 1915) [=Capritermes taylori, Mirotermes taylori, Termes taylori] M91
                `--+--Macrognathotermes Miller 1991 IVE07, M91
                   |    |--*M. errator Miller 1991 M91
                   |    |--M. broomensis (Mjöberg 1920) [=Mirotermes broomensis, Termes broomensis] M91
                   |    |--M. prolatus Miller 1991 M91
                   |    `--M. sunteri (Hill 1927) [=Mirotermes sunteri, Termes sunteri] M91
                   `--+--Xylochomitermes Miller 1991 IVE07, M91
                      |    |--*X. melvillensis (Hill 1915) [=Capritermes melvillensis, Mirotermes melvillensis] M91
                      |    |--X. aspinosus Miller 1991 M91
                      |    |--X. occidualis (Gay 1971) [=Termes occidualis] M91
                      |    |--X. punctillus Miller 1991 M91
                      |    |--X. reductus (Gay 1971) [=Termes reductus] M91
                      |    `--X. tomentosus (Gay 1971) [=Termes tomentosus] M91
                      `--+--Paracapritermes Hill 1942 IVE07, M91
                         |    |--*P. primus (Hill 1942) [=Mirotermes (*Paracapritermes) primus] M91
                         |    |--P. kraepelinii (Silvestri 1909) [=Mirotermes kraepelinii] M91
                         |    |--P. prolixus Miller 1991 M91
                         |    `--P. secundus Miller 1991 M91
                         `--Cristatitermes Miller 1991 IVE07, M91
                              |--*C. carinatus Miller 1991 M91
                              |--C. arenicola Miller 1991 M91
                              |--C. barretti Miller 1991 M91
                              |--C. froggatti (Hill 1915) (see below for synonymy) M91
                              |--C. pineaformis Miller 1991 M91
                              `--C. tutulatus Miller 1991 M91

Cristatitermes froggatti (Hill 1915) [=Capritermes froggatti, Mirotermes froggatti, Termes froggatti] M91

Ephelotermes cheeli (Mjöberg 1920) [=Mirotermes cheeli, Termes cheeli; incl. M. alleni Mjöberg 1920, M. banksiensis Hill 1927] M91

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[H42] Hill, G. F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region (including Australia, New Guinea and islands south of the Equator between 140°E. longitude and 170°W. longitude). Commonwealth of Australia Council for Scientific and Industrial Research: Melbourne.

[IVE07] Inward, D. J. G., A. P. Vogler & P. Eggleton. 2007. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of termites (Isoptera) illuminates key aspects of their evolutionary biology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44: 953–967.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[M91] Miller, L. R. 1991. A revision of the Termes-Capritermes branch of the Termitinae in Australia (Isoptera: Termitidae). Invertebrate Taxonomy 4: 1147–1282.

[S57] Seevers, C. H. 1957. A monograph on the termitophilous Staphylinidae (Coleoptera). Fieldiana Zoology 40: 1–334.

[V25] Vitzthum, H. 1925. Fauna sumatrensis. (Beitrag no. 5). Acarinae. Supplementa Entomologica 11: 1–79.

[Z02] Zherikhin, V. V. 2002. Ecological history of the terrestrial insects. In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 331–388. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.