Research Article |
Corresponding author: Rudolf H. Scheffrahn ( rhsc@ufl.edu ) Academic editor: Eliana Cancello
© 2018 Rudolf H. Scheffrahn.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Scheffrahn RH (2018) Neotermes costaseca: a new termite from the coastal desert of Peru and the redescription of N. chilensis (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae). ZooKeys 811: 81-90. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.811.30809
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The imago and soldier castes of a new Neotermes species, N. costaseca, are described. It is only the third termite species known from the Pacific coastal desert of Peru. Neotermes costaseca sp. n. is compared with the allopatric Neotermes chilensis from the arid central and southern coastal plain of Chile.
New species, Neotropics, Chile, imago, soldier
The coastal desert of Peru and Chile (Atacama) spans approximately 3,000 km from -5° to -27° latitude. Only two termite species are recorded from this region, Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) (widespread,
Microphotographs were taken as multi-layer montages using a Leica M205C stereomicroscope controlled by Leica Application Suite version 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.
The imago of N. costaseca has larger eyes and ocelli than N. chilensis and the former possesses arolia. The soldier mandible of N. chilensis has much more pronounced basal humps than N. costaseca and the former has more protruding genal horns.
Imago (Figs
Characters | Females, 3 colonies (n = 8) | Males, 5 colonies (n = 10) | ||
Neotermes costaseca, sp. n. | mean | range | mean | range |
Head width, maximum (w/out eyes) | 1.7 | 1.60–1.90 | 1.69 | 1.66–1.72 |
Head width, maximum (with eyes) | 1.84 | 1.76–1.96 | 1.85 | 1.78–1.94 |
Pronotum, maximum width | 2.07 | 1.98–2.13 | 2.02 | 1.97–20.9 |
Eye diameter, maximum | 0.56 | 0.50–0.60 | 0.57 | 0.50–0.61 |
Body length | 8.56 | 7.14–13.17 | 8.47 | 6.80–9.40 |
Right forewing length | 14.67 | 14.00–16.35 | 15.41 | 13.00–16.19 |
Body length with wings | 17.43 | 16.51–17.94 | 17.59 | 16.30–18.73 |
Number of antennal articles | 18.9 | 17–21 | 19.75 | 17–22 |
Neotermes chilensis | Females, 1 colony (n = 1) | Males, 2 colonies (n = 2) | ||
mean | range | mean | range | |
Head width, maximum (w/out eyes) | 1.74 | 1.70–1.78 | 1.64 | 1.63–1.66 |
Head width, maximum (with eyes) | 1.82 | 1.82–1.82 | 1.79 | 1.78–1.80 |
Pronotum, maximum width | 2.04 | 1.95–2.13 | 1.97 | 1.91–2.03 |
Eye diameter, maximum | 0.47 | 0.44–0.51 | 0.46 | 0.44–0.47 |
Body length | 8.57 | 6.51–10.63 | 7.2 | 6.40–8.00 |
Soldier (Fig.
Characters | Neotermes costaseca (n = 10) | Neotermes chilensis (n = 10) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
mean | range | mean | range | |
Head length to lateral mandible base | 3.46 | 2.66–3.92 | 3.25 | 2.80–3.84 |
Head width, maximum | 2.44 | 2.25–2.66 | 2.63 | 2.31–2.97 |
Head height with gula, maximum | 2.04 | 1.72–2.30 | 1.94 | 1.75–2.13 |
Pronotum length | 1.38 | 1.20–1.69 | 1.54 | 1.25–1.84 |
Pronotum width | 2.60 | 2.38–3.06 | 2.74 | 2.38–3.19 |
Number of antennal articles | 15 | 14–16 | 16.22 | 14–18 |
3rd antennal article length | 0.17 | 0.14–0.19 | 0.23 | 0.19–0.28 |
Holotype: Perú: Lurin, Rio Lurin, (-12.275, -76.879), 23OCT2007, J Křeček (JK); labelled soldier (University of Florida Termite collection no. PE131).
Perú: Lurin, Rio Lurin (-12.275, -76.879), 23OCT2007, J. Křeček (JK); winged imagos, soldiers, pseudergates (UF no. PE131). Perú: Lima, Rio Chillon (-11.979, -77.090), 20OCT2007, JK; winged imagos (UF no. PE107). Perú: Lima, Rio Lurin, Quebrada Verde bridge (-12.237, -76.856), 23OCT2007, JK, Gerardo; winged imagos (UF no. PE117). Perú: Lima, Rio Lurin, Quebrada Verde bridge (-12.237, -76.856), 23OCT2007, JK, Gerardo; winged imagos (UF no. PE119). Perú: Lima, Huaral (-12.275, -76.879), 23OCT2007, JK, Gerardo; winged imagos (UF no. PE131). Perú: Lima, Rio Lurin (-11.521, -77.239), 25OCT2007, JK, C. Torres; winged imagos (UF no. PE145). Perú: Lima, Chacra y Mar (-11.60804, -77.23939), 25OCT2007, T. Carrijo R. Constantino, J. Chase, J. Křeček, E. Kuswanto, J. Mangold, A. Mullins, T. Nishimura, R. Scheffrahn (CCCKKMMNS); winged imagos (UF no. PU1012). Perú: Ancash, Huaylas (-8.872, -77.894), 9MAY2014, CCCKKMMNS; soldiers (UF no. PU1019). Perú: Parque Nat. Lachay (-11.363, -77.371), 9MAY2014, CCCKKMMNS; soldiers (UF no. PU1007). Perú: Lima, Chacra y Mar (-11.608, -77.239), 3JUN14, CCCKKMMNS; soldiers (UF no. PU1011). Perú: Lima, Huaral, Pueblo Libre, Rio Chancay bridge (-11.514, -77.230), 23OCT2007, JK, C. Torres; soldiers (UF no. PE135). Perú: Lima, Rio Lurin, Quebrada Verde bridge (-12.237, -76.856), 23OCT2007, JK, Gerardo Torres; soldiers (UF no. PE120). Perú: Lima, Pachacamac (-12.243, -76.864), 23OCT2007, JK, Gerardo; soldiers (UF no. PE126). Neotermes fulvescens, Paraguay: Dry Chaco Mariscal Estigarribia (-22.078, -60.552), 1JUN2012, J. Chase; soldiers and queen (UF no. PA742).
From Spanish, meaning “dry coast” and describing the species’ habitat; to be treated as a noun in apposition.
Although climatically isolated, some character overlap is possible with other neotropical Neotermes. A revision of Neotropical Neotermes is needed to identify diagnostic characters. The imago of N. costaseca has longer head and pronotal setae and larger eyes and ocelli than N. chilensis. Neotermes costaseca has an arolium which is lacking in N. chilensis. The soldier mandible of N. chilensis has much more pronounced basal humps, more sinuate marginal teeth, and more sharply curved apical teeth than N. costaseca. The anterolateral corners of N. chilensis constrict more than those of N. costaseca and, unlike N. costaseca, the genal horns of N. chilensis protrude. The pronotum of the N. chilensis soldier is crescent-shaped with that of N. costaseca resembles a bow tie. The soldier eye spot of N. costaseca is hyaline while that of N. chilensis is almost always pigmented. The soldier of N. castaneus differs from both N. costaseca and N. chilensis in having shorter, thicker mandibles with larger, more rounded basal humps.
The arid-adapted N. costaseca and N. chilensis are most comparable with non-Amazonian congenerics from Argentina (
The N. glabriusculus Oliveira imago has smaller ocelli than both N. costaseca and N. chilensis and are more removed from the eye while the soldier dentition in the former is less robust and the tips are not as curved and have almost no basal humps (
Neotermes costaseca colonies were collected from both dead branches attached to live trees and directly from sapwood within live trees (Fig.
See
Imago (Fig.
Soldier (Fig.
Chile: La Serena, Road 5, Ovalle-Quebrada Seca intersection (-27.356, -70.659), 6OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; imago (UF no. CL26). Chile: Atacama, 3km E PN Llanos de Challe (-30.518, -71.484), 5OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL21). Chile: La Serena, PN Borque Fray Jorge (-30.667, -71.675), 6OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL30). Chile: Valparaiso, La Cruz (-32.852, -71.183), 9OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL33). Chile: Valparaiso, La Cruz (-32.852, -71.183), 9OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL34). Chile: Santiago de Chile, Mallarauco (-33.459, -70.635), 11MAR1997, M. Rust; soldier (UF no. CL49). Chile: Santiago de Chile (-33.459, -70.635), 15FEB1999, J. Hughes; imago (UF no. SA158). Syntypes deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, were unavailable and not examined.
Neotermes chilensis colonies were collected from fence posts, dead branches, and dead tree trunks. An alate was collected in mid-February suggesting a late summer flight season.
The lack of termite diversity in the Neotropical coastal desert can be attributed to its climate and geographical barriers of the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. The entire coast of Peru and much of the Chilean coast is arid, but profound aridity (≤ 20 mm/yr) begins near Pacasmayo, Peru, and extends southward to approximately Copiapo, Chile (Fig.
With the addition of N. costaseca, there are now 27 Neotermes species (
My appreciation is offered to Renato Ripa and Paola Luppichini (Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Chile) for facilitating Dr. Křeček’s field collections. John Warner measured the specimens and reviewed the manuscript.