Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters

The Sunda region of Southeastern Asia is rich in termite fauna, but termites from this region have been poorly described. In this study, we described eight species from two diverse genera from this region, and from the family Termitidae. We describe Bulbitermes 4 spp. and Nasutitermes 4 spp. from ne...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Syaukani Syaukani, Graham Thompson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2011-11-01
Series:ZooKeys
Online Access:http://zookeys.pensoft.net/lib/ajax_srv/article_elements_srv.php?action=download_pdf&item_id=3002
_version_ 1819049182539808768
author Syaukani Syaukani
Graham Thompson
author_facet Syaukani Syaukani
Graham Thompson
author_sort Syaukani Syaukani
collection DOAJ
description The Sunda region of Southeastern Asia is rich in termite fauna, but termites from this region have been poorly described. In this study, we described eight species from two diverse genera from this region, and from the family Termitidae. We describe Bulbitermes 4 spp. and Nasutitermes 4 spp. from new field collections. Where possible we examine original holotype specimens, and describe the essential morphological characters for soldier and worker castes. We devise two new bifurcating keys to guide the field identification of each species. In addition, we develop a nucleotide sequence profile for the COI gene. From this molecular character matrix, we use Neighbour-Joining analysis to test the monophyly of each morphospecies and genus. We find that the morphological and molecular characters are highly concordant, whereby all taxa appear to represent distinct molecular clades. For termites, there is therefore agreement between the morphological taxonomic characters used to sort species from a bifurcating key and the molecular taxonomic characters used to sort species on a bifurcating tree. This joint analysis suggests that DNA barcoding holds considerable promise for termite taxonomy, especially for diverse clades like Bulbitermes and Nasutitermes for which a global morphological key would be intractable.
first_indexed 2024-12-21T11:28:05Z
format Article
id doaj.art-242dbf6060564ab6bd0440b655d3102b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1313-2989
1313-2970
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-21T11:28:05Z
publishDate 2011-11-01
publisher Pensoft Publishers
record_format Article
series ZooKeys
spelling doaj.art-242dbf6060564ab6bd0440b655d3102b2022-12-21T19:05:37ZengPensoft PublishersZooKeys1313-29891313-29702011-11-01148013516010.3897/zookeys.148.20553002Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular charactersSyaukani SyaukaniGraham ThompsonThe Sunda region of Southeastern Asia is rich in termite fauna, but termites from this region have been poorly described. In this study, we described eight species from two diverse genera from this region, and from the family Termitidae. We describe Bulbitermes 4 spp. and Nasutitermes 4 spp. from new field collections. Where possible we examine original holotype specimens, and describe the essential morphological characters for soldier and worker castes. We devise two new bifurcating keys to guide the field identification of each species. In addition, we develop a nucleotide sequence profile for the COI gene. From this molecular character matrix, we use Neighbour-Joining analysis to test the monophyly of each morphospecies and genus. We find that the morphological and molecular characters are highly concordant, whereby all taxa appear to represent distinct molecular clades. For termites, there is therefore agreement between the morphological taxonomic characters used to sort species from a bifurcating key and the molecular taxonomic characters used to sort species on a bifurcating tree. This joint analysis suggests that DNA barcoding holds considerable promise for termite taxonomy, especially for diverse clades like Bulbitermes and Nasutitermes for which a global morphological key would be intractable.http://zookeys.pensoft.net/lib/ajax_srv/article_elements_srv.php?action=download_pdf&item_id=3002
spellingShingle Syaukani Syaukani
Graham Thompson
Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters
ZooKeys
title Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters
title_full Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters
title_fullStr Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters
title_full_unstemmed Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters
title_short Taxonomic Notes on Nasutitermes and Bulbitermes (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) from the Sunda region of Southeast Asia based on morphological and molecular characters
title_sort taxonomic notes on nasutitermes and bulbitermes termitidae nasutitermitinae from the sunda region of southeast asia based on morphological and molecular characters
url http://zookeys.pensoft.net/lib/ajax_srv/article_elements_srv.php?action=download_pdf&item_id=3002
work_keys_str_mv AT syaukanisyaukani taxonomicnotesonnasutitermesandbulbitermestermitidaenasutitermitinaefromthesundaregionofsoutheastasiabasedonmorphologicalandmolecularcharacters
AT grahamthompson taxonomicnotesonnasutitermesandbulbitermestermitidaenasutitermitinaefromthesundaregionofsoutheastasiabasedonmorphologicalandmolecularcharacters