Compositermes bani, Carrijo, Tiago F., Scheffrahn, Rudolf H. & Křeček, Jan, 2015

Carrijo, Tiago F., Scheffrahn, Rudolf H. & Křeček, Jan, 2015, Compositermes bani sp. n. (Isoptera, Termitidae, Apicotermitinae), a new species of soldierless termite from Bolivia, Zootaxa 3941 (2), pp. 294-298 : 295-298

Compositermes bani sp.n. Carrijo, Scheffrahn & Křeček

Material examined. Type colony: Workers fixed in 85% ethanol. Sample labeled as, “ Bolivia, Sierra de Chochis, BO 842, SCCMNKM col. 31/May/13 ”. Holotype: single worker kept in a separate vial in the same sample.

Type locality. Bolivia, Chochis; - 18.107 S, - 60.086 W.

Etymology. Named in honor of Paul Ban (1956-2009), a University of Florida colleague of the second and third authors who collected on St. Croix (1996) and participated in termite survey expeditions to Jamaica (1997, 2003), Venezuela (2008), and Colombia (2009).

Imago. Unknown.

Worker ( Figs. 3–10 ). Monomorphic. In dorsal view, head capsule subtrapezoidal with posterior margin rounded; fontanelle spot large and oval, slightly lighter than the head surface, situated at posterior half of the head capsule. In lateral view, the dorsal surface of the head capsule slightly oval; postclypeus strongly inflated and arched ( Fig. 3–4 ). Head capsule and antennae light yellowish; pronotum pale yellow; legs white transparent. Antennal articles gradually more pigmented toward distal end. Antenna with 14 articles: 1>2>3<4<5=2. Anterior lobe of pronotum well-developed, and posterior lobe short; anterior margin of pronotum rounded. Tibial spurs 2:2:2. Range of measurements (mm) of five workers from the type colony (BO842): LH, 0.78–0.83; WH, 0.88–0.93; LT, 0.83–0.88.

Mandibles ( Fig. 5 ). Apical teeth acute and more prominent than first marginal teeth; margin of apical teeth forming a slightly acute, almost straight, angle with anterior margin of first marginal teeth. Left mandible: M1+2 margin straight till the gap before M3. M3 larger than molar tooth; molar tooth partially hidden beneath molar prominence; molar prominence concave with slightly defined ridges. Right mandible: M1 forming a U-shape margin with M2; molar plate concave with no defined ridges; basal notch well defined.

Digestive tube ( Figs. 6–10 ). Coiling gut in situ visible through the abdominal wall. Crop (C) well developed ( Fig. 6 ), with spines covering inner surface. Gizzard (G) regressed, with cuticular armature greatly simplified ( Fig. 7 ). Mesenteron (M) leaving the left side dorsally and passing through right side of the abdomen to join the first proctodeal segment (P1) ventrally, almost in medial line of body. Malpighian tubules attached in pairs, before the M-P1 junction. M- P1 junction swollen, but not bulging. P1 long and tubular, going through left side of body to form a loop between the rectum and paunch in ventral view and reaching the enteric valve seating (EVS) on right side of body. Enteric valve (P2) complete, with six inflated cushions in hexaradial arrangement; each cushion with a small basal projection covered with faint reticulate polygons; inter-cushion positions with larger and more robust reticulate polygons ( Fig. 8 ). EVS long and cylindrical; the EVS/P3 junction is adorned with 16 heavily sclerotized coronate prominences, each covered with spikes of different shapes and sizes ( Fig. 9–10 ). Distal part of P3 globose; isthmus conspicuous; colon (P4) forming a tubular “U-turn”, not dilated, forming a close loop before joining rectum (P5).

Comparisons. The workers of C. bani sp.n. and C. vindai are almost identical externally and internally. The clear distinction between these two species resides at the EVS/P3 junction. In C. bani , the paddles characteristic of C. vindai are replaced by a ring of coronate prominences from which are adorned with spines of great depth and curvature ( Fig. 11 ). The EVS/P3 junction of C. vindai workers examined have flat paddles, with varying size and number of flat spines originating along the lengths of their free borders ( Fig. 11 ; Scheffrahn 2013).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Variability on the EVS / P 3 junction paddles of Compositermes vindai. Samples from Panama (upper left, PN 1064), Trinidad & Tobago (upper right, TT 618), Peru (lower left, PU 709) and Bolivia (lower right, BO 978).

FIGURES 3 – 6. Worker of Compositermes bani sp. n.: 3, lateral view of the head; 4, dorsal view of the head; 5, mandibles: A, apical teeth; M, marginal teeth. Mandibles slightly worn; 6, digestive tube: C, crop; G, gizzard; M, mesenteron; P 1, first proctodeal segment; P 2, enteric valve; P 3, paunch; P 4, colon; P 5, rectum. From left to right: dorsal, right, ventral and left views. Scales except mandibles = 1 mm.

FIGURES 7 – 10. Worker of Compositermes bani sp. n.: 7, gizzard; 8, enteric valve (half of the enteric valve lost during preparation); 9 – 10, EVS / P 3 junction.