Syntermes

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Syntermes
Syntermes spinosus colony with queen pictured, from the Amazonas region of Brazil. The colony has evacuated the nest likely due to flooding.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Infraorder: Isoptera
Family: Termitidae
Subfamily: Syntermitinae
Genus: Syntermes
Holmgren, 1909

Syntermes is a genus of large Neotropical higher termites within the subfamily Syntermitinae.[1][2] The genus is found only in South America where members are distributed widely throughout the continent, being found from the tropical rainforests of Colombia to the savannas of Brazil and Northern Argentina.[3]

Most known species forage in the open and collect either leaf or grass litter which is stored in subterranean chambers for later consumption. The nests are primarily subterranean with epigeal

Makiritare in the Alto Orinoco province of Venezuela, where they fish the soldiers out via a stick.[5] A few species are known to cause some damage to cultivated plants like young Eucalyptus, peanuts, sugarcane and yams.[3]

Identification

Workers of this genus are highly polymorphic, with there being four distinguishable sterile worker castes. The two largest castes are male and have heavily sclerotized heads ranging from brown to yellowish. The two smallest are female and have white unsclerotized heads of different sizes. Spines on the thoracic nota are present, although not as conspicuous as in the soldiers.[3]

The soldier caste is mostly monomorphic and likely develops from the largest male worker caste, which molts into a presoldier, and then into the terminal soldier molt. Soldiers have prominent spines on the thoracic nota, and unlike most other Syntermitinae soldiers, have a very short to completely absent frontal tube (nasus) on the head.[3] Young colonies of some species have forma prima (first form) soldiers which are significantly smaller and morphologically distinct from soldiers of mature colonies. The soldiers of some Syntermes species are amongst the largest of all termites, with the soldiers of Syntermes spinosus obtaining an average dry bodyweight of 51.0±1.7 mg, comparable to the largest Macrotermes species of Africa.[6]

The

pronotum is mostly the same width as the head although sometimes a bit larger or narrower and mostly flat, and the fontanelle is often circular and large. The wings are long, somewhat narrow and often heavily sclerotized.[3]

  • Syntermes aculeosus worker, imago, and soldier illustrated along with mandibles and corresponding anatomical terminology.
    Syntermes aculeosus worker, imago, and soldier illustrated along with mandibles and corresponding anatomical terminology.

Species

Syntermes dirus mound in Brazil
Syntermes dirus mound in Brazil
  1. Syntermes aculeosus
  2. Syntermes barbatus
  3. Syntermes bolivianus
  4. Syntermes brevimalatus
  5. Syntermes calvus
  6. Syntermes cearensis
  7. Syntermes chaquimayensis
  8. Syntermes crassilabrum
  9. Syntermes dirus
  10. Syntermes grandis
  11. Syntermes insidians
  12. Syntermes longiceps
  13. Syntermes magnoculus
  14. Syntermes molestus
  15. Syntermes nanus
  16. Syntermes obtusus
  17. Syntermes parallelus
  18. Syntermes peruanus
  19. Syntermes praecellens
  20. Syntermes spinosus
  21. Syntermes tanygnathus
  22. Syntermes territus
  23. Syntermes wheeleri

References

  1. ^ Holmgren, N. 1909. Termite Studies. 1. Anatomical Studies. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 44 (3): 1-215.
  2. ^ Araujo, RL 1970. Termites of the Neotropical region. pp. 527-576 In: K. Krishna; FM Weesner, Biology of termites. Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.
  3. ^
    ISSN 0022-8850
    .
  4. ^ https://earthsky.org/earth/huge-ancient-termite-mounds-brazil-visible-via-satellite/
  5. ISSN 0367-0244
    .
  6. ISSN 0044-5967
    .
  • Termite Catalog
  • en ION
  • Nomenclator Zoologicus
  • Constantino, R. 1995. Revision of the neotropical genus Syntermes Holmgren (Isoptera: Termitidae). The University of Kansas Science Bulletin 55(13):455-518.
  • Emerson, A.E. 1945. The neotropical genus Syntermes (Isoptera: Termitidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 83(7):427-472.
  • Holmgren, N. 1909. Termitenstudien 1. Anatomische untersuchungen. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 44(3):1-215.
  • Holmgren, N. 1910a. Das system der termiten. Zoologischer Anzeiger 35:284-286.
  • Mathews, A.G.A. 1977. Studies on Termites from the Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Río de Janeiro: Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 267 pp.
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