Rustitermes boteroi Constantini, Castro & Scheffrahn, 2020

Castro, Daniel, Constantini, Joice P., Scheffrahn, Rudolf H., Carrijo, Tiago F. & Cancello, Eliana M., 2020, Rustitermes boteroi, a new genus and species of soldierless termites (Blattodea, Isoptera, Apicotermitinae) from South America, ZooKeys 922, pp. 35-49 : 35

Rustitermes boteroi Constantini, Castro & Scheffrahn sp. nov.

Material examined.

Holotype. Worker from colony labeled as UF no. PU602; the holotype is kept in a separate small vial in the same vial as the paratypes.

Type locality.

PERU. Ucayali, Nueva Requena, -8.37007, -74.84366.

Type repository.

University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Termite Collection in Davie, Florida.

Paratypes. Argentina. Corrientes, Santo Tome, (-28.57900, -56.0840), 1.JUL.1998, 93 m, J. Křeček coll. (UF no. AG360). BOLIVIA. Cochabamba, Chapare, Villa Tunari, (-18.15343, -60.03293), 26.MAY.2013, 408 m, Chase, Křeček, Mullins, Nishimura, Mangold, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. BO85). Beni, San Javier, (-14.70207, -64.89097), 29.MAY.2013, 152m, Chase, Křeček, Mullins, Nishimura, Mangold, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. BO375); (-14.54909, -64.88964), 29.MAY.2013, Chase, Křeček, Mullins, Nishimura, Mangold, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. BO431, BO437). Santa Cruz, Roboré, (-18.15343, -60.03293), 31.MAY.2013, 408 m, Chase, Křeček, Mullins, Nishimura, Mangold, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. BO738). BRASIL. Alagoas, Quebrangulo, (-9.2288, -36.4259), 19.JUN.2000, 780 m, MP Silva coll. (MZUSP 13712). Bahia, Conde, (-11.7718, -37.7301), 15.JUN.2016, 78 m, JP Constantini coll. (MZUSP 26648). Espírito Santo, Pedro Canário, (-18.3557, -39.8445), 20.JUN.2016, 43 m, JP Constantini coll. (MZUSP 26652); 21.JUN.2016, (MZUSP 26676(a), 26677*). Paraíba, João Pessoa, (-7.1480, -34.8614), 01-20.JUN.2000, 66 m, A Vasconcellos coll. (MZUSP 13710, 13711). Pernambuco, Recife, Horto Dois Irmãos, (-7.9999, -34.9473), s/d, 88m, A Vasconcellos coll. (MZUSP 13702). COLOMBIA. Amazonas, La Chorrera, Lago grande (-2.07066, -72.170611), 28.JUN.2016, 133 m, D. Castro coll. (CATAC-1712); Leticia, (-4.046666, -70.00566), 13.JUL.2018, 126 m, D. Castro coll. (CATAC-3137). Caquetá, Belén de los Andaquíes, (+ 1.3515, -75.81178), 23.APR.2018, 280 m, H Artunduaga coll. (CATAC-3688); (+ 1.26663, -75.78983), 24.FEB.2016, 252 m, Y. Virguez coll. (CATAC-1793); (+ 1.63063, -75.90591), 28.JAN.2017, 758 m, D. Castro coll. (CATAC-0954); Florencia, (+ 1.716694, -75.61369), 29.MAR.2016, 527 m, Y. Virguez coll. (CATAC-1781); San Vicente del Caguan, (+ 2.03560, -74.91294), 14.APR.2018, 339 m, CP Peña coll. (CATAC-1797). ECUADOR. Orellana, Tuptini, (-0.67177, -76.39793), 28.APR.2011, 223 m, Scheffrahn, Chase, Mangold, Křeček, Myles, Nishimura and Setter coll. (UF no. EC400). FRENCH GUIANA. Cayenne, Sinnamary, (+ 5.06314, -52.98479), 13.FEB.2008, 102 m, J. Křeček coll. (UF no. FG411). PARAGUAY. Central, Ypacaraí, (-25.38044, -57.20014), 27MAY2012, 248 m, Scheffrahn, Chase, Mangold, Křeček and Myles coll. (UF no. PA8). PERU. Ucayali, Nueva Requena, (-8.37007, -74.84366), 29.APR.2014, 185 m, Carrijo, Chase, Constantino, Mangold, Mullins, Křeček, Kuswanto, Nishimura, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. PU602, PU613). TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. Anse Fourmi, Manson Hall, (+ 11.28467, -60.60133), 31.MAY.1996, 472 m, Chase, Mangold, Křeček, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. TT619). Guayaguayare, Río Claro-Mayaro (+10.23516, - 61,13266), 20.MAY.2003, 41 m, Chase, Mangold, Křeček, and Scheffrahn coll. (UF no. TT1614). VENEZUELA. Bolívar, Cantarrana, (+ 4.46750, -61.59694), 29.APR.2004, 874 m, J. Perozo coll. (UF no. VZ1443.1).

Diagnosis.

Unarmed enteric valve with six slightly asymmetrical cushions, each one forms a central pouch made of about sixty scales, smaller than those between the cushions.

Imago. As described for the genus.

Worker (Figs 2 - 4 ; Table 2 ). Monomorphic, head capsule with long and short bristles, with more abundance of long bristles. Head capsule color varying between whitish and yellowish. Antennae with 14 articles densely covered with short hairs and some long bristles. Pronotum with long bristles, concentrated along the margins of the anterior and posterior lobes, with some sparse short bristles in the center of the pronotum. Inner face of fore tibia with two rows of 6-7 thick bristles. Inner face of fore femur with thick bristles. Mesotibia and metatibia with 25-35 long, thick bristles.

Enteric valve without armature, with six pyriform cushions of slightly different dimensions, each cushion consisting of 50-75 (depending on size of cushion) larger fringed polygons. The cuticle between the cushions is composed of even larger fringed cuboidal scales assembled close to P3.

Remarks.

See remarks for genus.

Ecology and distribution.

This species was collected mainly in soil, although it can also be found at the base of trees or occasionally under pieces of wood or fallen tree limbs above ground. Very common in pastures and open areas; found in young rubber crops in great abundance, less abundant in natural forests. Range: from Trinidad and Tobago to northern Argentina and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil (see discussion below); no known records for Chile and Uruguay (Figure 6 ).

Etymology.

Named in honor of the great Colombian artist Fernando Botero.

Figures

Figure 2. Rustitermes boteroi sp. nov. A, B worker head capsule in dorsal and lateral view C imago mandibles D worker mandibles E worker right fore tibia F live habitus of worker. MP = molar process. Specimens from lot CATAC 1797 (A, B), MZUSP 26677 (C, D), BO 437 (E).

Figure 4. Worker enteric valve of Rustitermes boteroi sp. nov. A EV fully stretched laterally, showing the six cushions (end cushion bisected) B EV detail of smallest cushion in A C whole mount EV lateral profile of cushions. Food flow in each image from bottom to top.

Figure 6. Distribution map of Rustitermes boteroi sp. nov. Collection data from the following collections: CATAC (SINCHI Institute), MZUSP (Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo) and UF (University of Florida).