Diversity and Ecology of Termites

Dear Colleagues,

Termites (Blattodea: Isoptera) are eusocial insects comprising over 3,000 species distributed mainly in the tropical regions. These insects live in colonies consisting of hundreds to millions of individuals. Their colonies are organized into castes that have specific tasks such as nest building, foraging, reproduction, brood care, and colony defense. Their symbiotic association with microorganisms allows termites to digest lignocellulose, making them the major terrestrial decomposers. Termites are classified as eusocial cockroaches, and are receiving increasing attention in evolutionary studies to understand the evolution of eusociality.

Termite provide benefits associated with their crucial role in ecosystem functioning by contributing to waste decomposition, soil formation, nutrient cycling, and pedoturbation, which helps maintain soils. In this context, the protection of these insects should be a priority. Termitology has made great strides in research over the last few decades, as reflected in the growing number of published articles, and this interest in termite research calls for a collection dedicated to these fascinating insects.

This Special Issue is an excellent opportunity to gather the latest advances in termite diversity and ecology, covering a wide range of research areas such as evolutionary biology, genomics, systematics, microbiology, and ethology. We invite contributions from a wide range of scientists, including termitologists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, microbiologists, and geneticists. All organizational levels, from colonies to ecosystems, are considered.

Dr. Alberto Arab
Dr. Robin Casalla Daza
Dr. Olga P. Pinzón
Dr. Ervin Humprey Duran-Bautista
Guest Editors

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• diversity
• niche and ecological functions
• evolution of eusociality
• caste development
• systematics
• microbe interactions in termites of different feeding guilds
• population dynamics
• habitat degradation
• interaction with termitophiles and inquilines
• impacts of termite activity on soil formation and properties

Title: Types and fecundity of neotenic reproductives produced in five-year-old orphaned colonies of drywood termite, Cryptotermes domesticus (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae)
Authors: Wenjing Wu; Zhenyou Huang; Shijun Zhang; Zhiqiang Li; Bingrong Liu; Wenhui Zeng; Chuanguo Xia
Affiliation: Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences
Abstract: Orphaned colonies of Cryptotermes domesticus readily produce supplementary reproductives to spread their damage. This study was designed to investigate the production and fecundity of supplementary reproductives in five-year-old colonies of C. domesticus after orphaning. All fifteen experimental colonies were successfully re-established by the neotenic reproductive pair. There are three types of neotenic reproductives with various wing bud lengths: type I micro wing bud, type II short wing bud, and type III long wing bud. Four patterns of pairs made up of these neotenics have reproductive capacities comparable to those of the primary reproductive pair. We speculated that these neotenics were derived from various nymphal instars. Five-year-old colonies had three instars of nymphs, with the majority being in the second instar, followed by the first. Thus, the combination of short wing bud neotenics and micro wing bud neotenics was the dominant differentiation pathway of orphaned colonies. After the removal of the original primary reproductive pair, nymphs mature into neotenics and take over reproduction in the colony in 107.40 ± 15.18 days. This study underlined the significance and requirements of quarantine, routine inspection, and early prevention and control intervention, and further confirmed the high differentiation and reproductive capacities of C. domesticus.