Isognathotermes banksi (Emerson, 1928)

Figs 43–44; Table 6

Revised herein as junior synonym of I. fungifaber .

Mirotermes (Cubitermes) banksi Emerson, 1928: 522–523, fig. 63.

Cubitermes banksi – Snyder 1949: 156. – Krishna et al. 2013: 1913.

Cubitermes fungifaber – Ruelle 1992: 501. — Josens & Deligne 2019: 60.

Isognathotermes fungifaber – Hellemans et al. 2021: 233.

Etymology

In the original description, Emerson (1928: 522–523) stated: “I have named the species in honor of Dr. Nathan Banks, the authority on the termites of the United States and the Neotropical region.”

Historical review

Emerson (1928) described this species under the name Mirotermes (Cubitermes) banksi in the family Termitidae . He provided a description, biometrical data and figures of imago and soldier, together with a much shorter description of the worker. He noted several morphological differences between imago and soldier of the new species and those already described among which C. fungifaber . However, he did not compare with C. comstocki or C. schmidti .

Snyder (1949: 156) catalogued Cubitermes banksi in the sub-family Termitinae .

This is one of the species that Ruelle (1992: 501) called “forgotten species”.

Krishna et al. (2013: 1913) housed this species in the sub-family Cubitermitinae . According to them, Emerson wrote in his unpublished “card catalog” that C. banksi should be considered as a junior synonym of C. fungifaber . This latter opinion of Emerson had already been reported by Ruelle (1992: 501). Synonymy of the two species is compatible with their enteric valve morphology, as both species belong to the same fungifaber valve pattern group (Josens & Deligne 2019: 39–42). However, I. banksi, along with I. comstocki and I. schmidti are rather small in comparison with most I. fungifaber samples (see Table 6). To clarify this possible synonymy, one of us (PA) went and collected new samples at Bipindi, Cameroon (the type locality of Cubitermes banksi as well as of C. comstocki and C. schmidti), and at Mbongé, Cameroon (one of the type localities of C. fungifaber). Indeed, some of the samples he collected, especially at Bipindi, were very small and might previously have been identified as I. banksi, I. comstocki, or I. schmidti . Subsequent COII and 28S sequences placed all these samples in one single “ I. fungifaber clade” (Hellemans et al. 2021). Therefore, I. banksi (Emerson, 1928) is confirmed as a junior synonym of I. fungifaber (Sjöstedt, 1896) .

Hellemans et al. (2021: 233) placed this species in the restored genus Isognathotermes .

Two subsamples have been examined (see Isognathotermes fungifaber, DJ 0097 and DJ 0287). Krishna et al. (2013: 1943) mention that other subsamples are deposited in UMMZ: holotype (soldier) and morphotype (winged imago), not examined.