Speculitermes dharwarensis Roonwal and Chhotani

Santhrupthi, B., Ranjith, M. & Kalleshwaraswamy, C. M., 2024, The first description of Speculitermes dharwarensis Roonwal and Chhotani (Blattodea: Termitidae: Apicotermitinae) soldier caste with additional records of distribution, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 124 (4), pp. 353-359 : 354-357

Speculitermes dharwarensis Roonwal and Chhotani

Materials examined: 1. INDIA: Karnataka: Udupi, Hosangadi , 13˚41’13”N, 74˚56’2”E, 91m, 06.xi.2020, Santhrupthi, B., ex. Underneath boulders (1 vial, 1 Soldier, 5 Workers). 2 . INDIA, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore , 11°0’48”N, 76°55’55”E, 430m, 16.viii.2019, Coll. Ranjith, M., ex. Soil (2 vials, only workers). 3 . INDIA, Karnataka, Shivamogga , 13°58’15”N, 75°34’47”E, 636m, 28.vi.2019, Coll. Ranjith, M., ex. Emergence hole (1 vial, only workers). 4 . INDIA, Karnataka, Shivamogga , 13°58’15”N, 75°34’47”E, 636m, 1.vi.2020, Coll. Ranjith, M., ex. Emergence hole (1 vial, only workers) .

Description: Worker ( Table 1, Figure 1 ): Head capsule sub-circular, pale to dark brown, sparsely hairy, broader than long. Y-shaped suture is weak to prominent. The mid-dorsal spot is fairly rounded with slightly angled, whitish, flat, and smaller. Antennae are yellowish brown with 14 segments, segment three longer, sometimes a little longer than the second. Postclypeus is paler than the head, swollen, broader, length nearly half the width. Labrum is paler, dome-shaped, nearly as long as broad. Pronotum brownish, strongly saddle-shaped, fairly hairy, anterior margin rounded, posterior margin sub-rounded, broader than long. Legs are paler, and long with apical tibial spur 2:2:2. Abdomen globose, densely hairy, wall pale greyish to transparent making content the intestinal content visible outside.

Soldier (Table 2, Figure 2 ): Head capsule brown with two pale yellow streaks on either side. Mandibles are dark brown at the tip and paler basally. Labrum pale yellow, thorax, legs and abdomen yellowish white. Total body length 6.4 mm; Head subrectangular, sloping in front in profile, wider near base of the mandible. Antenna 14 segmented, the third segment longer than the second. Labrum is broadly tongue-shaped with hairs near the anterior margin and on the body. Mandibles thick and long; strongly bent inward. Each mandible has a thick, large forwardly directed tooth at 1/3 of the mandible length from the tip. Postmentum long club-shaped, weakly narrowed at the waist. Pronotum saddle-shaped without any median notch on anterior and posterior margins; with a fringe of short hairs/ bristles on margins and metanotum almost as wide as pronotum. Legs long, thin and hairy. Abdomen elongated, moderately hairy, tergites and sternites weakly chitinised.

Distribution: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu

Diagnosis: The species was identified as S. dharwarensis based on the keys provided for the worker caste by Chhotani (1997) and the soldier caste was compared with the description and specimen available for S. sinhalensis . Speculitermes dharwarensis workers are much smaller, having narrow pronotum and comparably larger mid-dorsal spot than the S. sinhalensis . Although the soldier of S. dharwarensis has some similarities with a soldier of S. sinhalensis , the morphometrics of the soldiers were distinct. The head dimensions are slightly smaller in S. dharwarensis (head width: 1.75 mm; head length: 2.12 mm) compared to S. sinhalensis (head width: 1.80 mm; head length: 2.18 mm). The labrum in S. dharwarensis is tongue-shaped, broader than long and moderately hairy, with a width of 0.47 mm, whereas S. sinhalensis has a shorter and broader labrum (width: 0.52 mm). The mandibles of both species are elongate, thick, and inwardly curved, but S. dharwarensis has a slightly longer mandible length-to-head length ratio (0.74 mm) compared to S. sinhalensis (0.71 mm). The presence of a large, triangular tooth on the mandibles of both species is a shared feature, though the tooth distance and index differ slightly.

*measurements are in mm except indices; N=1

Figures

Figure 1. Speculitermes dharwarensis a) Whole body of worker; b) Dorsal view of worker head; c) Lateral view of work- er head.

Figure 2. Speculitermes dharwarensis Roonwal and Chhotani a) Whole body of soldier; b) Dorsal view of soldier head; c) Lateral view of soldier head; d) Ventral view of soldier head.