﻿Cryptotermespugnus (Blattodea, Isoptera, Kalotermitidae), a new drywood termite species from the Brazilian Caatinga dry forest and key to South American Cryptotermes Banks, 1909

﻿Abstract A new termite species, Cryptotermespugnussp. nov., is described from northeastern Brazil. The winged imago of C.pugnus is distinguished from most congeners by the lack of arolia and the multiple branches connecting the median vein to the radial sector. The soldier is unique among South American Cryptotermes by its cuboidal head capsule and very rugose postclypeus. The new species constitutes the fourteenth Cryptotermes species on the continent for which we provide a key to soldiers.


Material and methods
Photomicrographs were taken as multilayer montages using a Leica M205C stereomicroscope controlled by Leica Application Suite v. 3 software.Preserved specimens were taken from 85% ethanol and suspended in a pool of Purell Hand Sanitizer to position the specimens on a transparent Petri dish background.Comparisons with other South American Cryptotermes species were made from specimens in the University of Florida Termite Collection (Scheffrahn 2019).
Among mainland South American Cryptotermes soldiers, C. pugnus is unique in having, in dorsal view, a cuboidal head capsule and a very rugose, rounded and projecting postclypeus (Fig. 2).The postclypeus of C. brevis and C. chacoensis soldiers are closest to C. pugnus, but the head capsules of the former two are constricted (Fig. 3).Along with C. pugnus, only C. aequacornis, C. cylindroceps, and C. rhicnocephalus have both frontal and genal horns projecting the same length anteriorly (Fig. 3H, L, M).
Description.Imago (Fig. 1A-D).Head capsule and pronotum pale yellow brown.Compound eye obtusely triangular; ocellus light yellow, about half diameter of eye, roundly ellipsoid, and touching eye margin.Vertex with a few short setae.Pronotum wider than head capsule; anterior margin shallowly concave.Pronotum lateral margins with about one dozen setae each.Antennae with 15 articles, basal article relative lengths 2 = 3 > 4 = 5.Forewing with subcosta joining costal margin at about 1/8 of wing length from suture.Wing membrane pale; veins a shade darker.Costa, subcostal, radius, and radial sector sclerotized; unsclerotized media with several branches intersecting radial sector; media terminating at radial sector about 3/4 wing length, then appearing as a separate branch near tip of wing.Arolium absent.Measurements (mm, mean, n = 3).Head maximum width with eyes 0.96; head maximum width without eyes 0.88; pronotum maximum width 0.94; eye maximum diameter 0.23; ocellus maximum diameter 0.12; total body length 5.3; right forewing length from scale 6.90; body length with wings 8.74.
Soldier (Fig. 2A-E).Head capsule, in dorsal view, strongly rugose; dark castaneous brown from postclypeus grading to orange-brown at occiput.Head capsule widest at posterior third, narrowest at frontal flange.Frontal flange (ridge) V-shaped with deep median cleft.Posterior margin of head capsule truncate, posterolateral corners forming right angles, lateral margins nearly parallel combining to form cuboidal appearance.In lateral view, frontal flange elevated, vertex unevenly concave; frontal horns visible as blunt knobs.Genal horns evenly rounded, slightly posterior to frontal horns (Fig. 2E).Pronotum angled sharply from vertex, narrower than head; anterior margin dark and ruffle; incised in middle with rounded anterior lobes.Eye spots large, narrowly elliptical.In oblique view (Fig. 2C) frons concave.Postclypeus evenly convex, strongly rugose, projecting well beyond frontal flange (Fig. 2A).Antennae with 8 or 9 articles, third fused or divided; or with 10 or 11 articles, third fused or divided.Mandibles wide and short for the genus; rugose, rounded basal hump at half-length when seen from below, outer margin of blade angles about 50°.Measurements (mm, mean, n = 2).Head length to tip of mandibles 1.57; head length to tip genal horns 1.20, frontal flange width 1.11; frontal horns, outside span 0.90; genal horns, outer span 0.95; head width, maximum 1.20; head width, minimum (behind frontal flange) 1.10; head height, excluding postmentum 0.88; pronotum, maximum length 0.95; pronotum, maximum width 1.12; left mandible length, tip to ventral condyle 0. Etymology.Named after the pug dog.The oblique view of the soldier (Fig. 2C) resembles this short-nosed breed.

Discussion
Cryptotermes pugnus is the second species of the genus described from Brazil and the first from the Caatinga dry forest, with records for two ecoregions, which have different geomorphological history and climatic parameters, "Planalto da Borborema" (São José dos Cordeiros, Paraíba State) and "Depressão Sertaneja Meridional" (Curaçá, Bahia State) (Silva et al. 2018).
There is also a record of C. havilandi from the Caatinga dry forest (Vasconcellos unpublished data), an exotic species which probably originated in tropical West Africa (Scheffrahn et al. 2003).There are no records of C. pugnus infestations in buildings, either in urban or agricultural environments.Other kalotermitids reported from the Caatinga include two undescribed species of Glyptotermes Froggatt, 1897, Rugitermes cf.niger Oliveira, 1979, an undescribed species of Rugitermes Holmgren, 1911 (Bandeira et al. 2003), and Tauritermes bandeirai Scheffrahn &Vasconcellos, 2022 (Scheffrahn andVasconcellos 2020).Small colonies of C. pugnus were found on adult individuals of Cenostigma nordestinum E. Gagnon & G.P. Lewis, an endemic tree of the Caatinga dry forest, which presents hard, highly dense (>0.84 g/cm 3 ) wood and individuals that can exceed 10 m in height (Silva et al. 2009).Due to the hardness of the wood, access to C. pugnus colonies is difficult, requiring the use of an ax and/ or chainsaw.Possibly because of this, its colonies are rarely found.At the type locality, there are records of C. pugnus alate flights from late December to early February (Lucena et al. 2022).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Imago of Cryptotermes pugnus sp.nov.(SA470) A dorsal view of head and pronotum B lateral view of head and pronotum C distal tarsomere of foreleg D left forewing.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Soldier of Cryptotermes pugnus sp.nov.(SA470) A dorsal view of head and pronotum B lateral view of head and pronotum C oblique view of head and pronotum D ventral view of head and pronotum E lateral view of cephalic horns.FF = frontal flange, FH = frontal horn, and GH = genal horn.