Eutermes burmeisteri Czerwinski

Constantino, Reginaldo, 2018, Reexamination of the identity and status of the termite taxa described by Czerwinski (1901) from southern Brazil (Isoptera: Termitidae), Zootaxa 4370 (3), pp. 275-278 : 275-276

1) Eutermes burmeisteri Czerwinski

Eutermes burmeisteri Czerwinski 1901: 8 , Fig. 9

“ Termes (Eutermes) Burmeisteri ” - Desneux 1904: 41

“ Eutermes burmeisteri ” - Snyder 1949: 349 (listed under “not classified”) “ Eutermes burmeisteri ” - Constantino 1998: 210 (listed under “names of uncertain position”) “ Anoplotermes burmeisteri ” - Krishna et al. 2013: 1333 (new combination)

Type-series: Czerwinski (1901) mentions 19 specimens (syntypes) including imagoes, nasutes, workers, and immatures, collected by Ihering from Brazil, “ Rio Grande ” ( MZPW), all lost.

Lectotype, here designated: the nasute soldier depicted in Czerwinski’s Photos 9B and 9C (reproduced here in Figs. 1 D-E) is to be treated as the lectotype. All other specimens in the type series are excluded. The lectotype was originally deposited in MZPW, Warsaw, Poland.

Type-locality. According to Jhering (1887a, 1887b), he collected termites in Brazil, State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the region between his house (31.285S 51.752W) and São Lourenço do Sul (31.376S 51.958W). The distance between these two sites is about 24 km. They are both located within the Pampas eco-region, where the most common natural vegetation is open grassland. The locality “Rio Grande” mentioned by Czerwinski (1901) and Jhering (1887) was just a short form of the name of the state, and should not be confused with the city of Rio Grande, which is located about 75 km south of São Lourenço.

Etymology: Czerwinski (1901) does not mention anything about the etymology. Probably named for Hermann Burmeister (1807–1892), the famous German zoologist.

New synonymy: Eutermes burmeisteri Czerwinski 1901 is a junior synonym of Cortaritermes fulviceps ( Silvestri 1901) .

Translation of the original description. Diagnosis (original in Latin): “Brownish-black; prothorax dark; mouthparts, legs, margins of abdominal segments, and middle of abdomen yellow; wings yellowish-gray, costal veins brown, obscure third line near the subcosta absent; head rounded; ocelli large, its distance from eyes twice its diameter; prothorax rounded. Body length 9 mm, with wings 16 mm.” Description (original in Russian): “ 4 larvae, 4 nasute larvae, 4 workers, 4 nasutes, 1 winged female, 1 winged male, 1 fertile female [queen?]. Given by Iering from Brazil (Rio Grande) in 1893. The winged forms of this species (Fig. 9, A) differ in the following characteristic features. Body length 9 mm, with wings 16 mm. The ocelli (e) are very far away from the eye, about 2-x its diameter. Near the eyes, a little closer to the middle line of the forehead, there are more spots, more of the surrounding background. On the middle of the forehead is a rather large, bare, round spot (a) (fontanelle). Under the subcostal vein, a yellow line is absent. The vein of the wing, as in Termes ater Hagen. Other attributes, as in Termes tenebrosus Kollar. Hagen , in his monograph, at the end of the description of the latter species, adds a note [ Hagen 1858: 194–195], in which a termite specimen given by Burmeister is mentioned; this specimen is intermediate between T. tenebrosus and T. ater . Having only one specimen, Hagen was uneasy to describe it as a new species. Fertile female: length 21 mm, width 5 mm. It differs from infertile ones by the light color. Nasutes of this collection (see Fig 9, B and C) have a length of 4.5 mm from the end of the abdomen to the end of the nasus. Length of head with nasus 1.6 mm. If we consider the beginning of the nasus at the base of the antennae (B, C), then the length of the nasus is equal to the length of the head (from b to c). The head capsule is significantly wider than its length. Behind the nasus is a weak swelling (n'). The angle between the nasus and the front surface of the head is shown in the attached profile photograph (C). 13-segmented antennae (c) with a length of 1.5 mm. First segment cylindrical, very long and thick; the second and fourth are half as long; the 3rd is equal in length to the first, but already, the others are a little more than the fourth, ovate. The width of the prothorax is equal to half the width of the head. The prothorax forms a narrow collar in front. The color is bright yellow with a reddish-yellow head and a dark-brown nasus.”

Discussion. The syntypes of E. burmeisteri belonged to two different species. The imago ( Fig. 1C ) is a soldierless termite (Apicotermitinae) and the soldier (Fig. 2D-E) is a nasute ( Nasutitermitinae ). It is uncertain why Krishna et al. (2013) formed the new combination “ Anoplotermes burmeisteri ”. Based on Czerwinski’s description and illustrations it is impossible to determine whether the imago belongs to the genus Anoplotermes . It is only possible to identify it as a member of the Anoplotermes -group, which currently includes 13 neotropical genera. The size and the large fontanelle ( Fig. 1C ) indicates that it probably belongs to the genus Patawatermes . Furthermore, this name could not be classified without the selection of a lectotype. The imago has no precedence in this case. Both imagoes and soldiers were listed in the type series, described in the text, and illustrated, and are equally eligible for lectotype selection. Lectotype designation based on a figure is explicitly allowed by ICZN article 74.4, even when the specimen no longer exists. The soldier was selected as the lectotype because it can be identified based on the available information, while the imago cannot. Czerwinski’s description of the nasute soldier matches perfectly Cortaritermes fulviceps . Although it is also compatible with the soldier of some species of Nasutitermes, data available on the termite fauna of Rio Grande do Sul and the information provided by Jhering (1887a, 1887b) corroborate the synonymy proposed here. Ihering’s termites were collected in open vegetation, where the only common nasute is C. fulviceps . No species of Nasutitermes has been reported from these grasslands. The most common species of Nasutitermes in Rio Grande do Sul is N. aquilinus , which is a forest species. Their soldiers are quite larger and the shape of their heads is distinct. The only other species of Nasutitermes reported from this region is N. ehrhardti , which is also a forest species, relatively rare. The mixed type series, including nasute soldiers and imagoes of Apicotermitinae indicates that these specimens were collected by Ihering from the same nest, where the latter were probably inquilines. Ihering incorrectly assumed that all termites sharing a nest belonged to the same species. While the mounds built by C. fulviceps often harbor soldierless termites as inquilines, the arboreal, carton nests built by most Nasutitermes do not. Although the names C. fulviceps and E. burmeisteri were both published in the same year, Silvestri’s paper explicitly indicates the publication date as 1901 July 9, while Czerwinski’s paper indicates only the year. In this case, the date to be adopted is the last day of the year (ICZN article 21). Therefore C. fulviceps has precedence and should be treated as the valid name of this species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A, nest of Cortaritermes fulviceps (Silvestri 1901) from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; B, soldier head of C. fulviceps; C, figure of the imago from Czerwinski’s (1901: fig. 9A) description of E. burmeisteri; D–-E, lectotype soldier of Eutermes burmeisteri Czerwinski (1901: figs. 9B and 9C).