Neotermes chilensis (Blanchard, 1851)

Scheffrahn, Rudolf H., 2018, Neotermescostaseca: a new termite from the coastal desert of Peru and the redescription of N. chilensis (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae), ZooKeys 811, pp. 81-90 : 86-89

Neotermes chilensis (Blanchard, 1851) Figures 1 D–F, 3 E– 3, 4; Table 1, 2

Synonyms.

See Krishna et al. 2013: 538-539 for complete synonymic list. Camousseight and Alehandro 2005: 39-45, synonymy; measurements; soldier, worker mandibles figured. Ripa and Luppichini 2004: 69-71, Chile termite key; 84, alate and soldier illustrated and photographed.

Description.

Imago (Fig. 1 D–F; Table 1). Head capsule and pronotum reddish brown. Anterodorsal margin of compound eye straight; ocellus yellowish orange, reniform; touching eye margin. Head vertex and frons slightly depressed, slightly rugose; covered with scattered short setae (0.15-0.2 mm) directed forward on head, variably directed on pronotum. Pronotum wider than head capsule; anterior margin evenly concave; anterior margin emarginate giving "bow tie" resemblance. Pronotum covered with short and medium-long (0.15-0.25 mm) setae. Anterior margin of fore wing scale convex; margin lined with 15-20 setae of same length. Arolium absent.

Soldier (Fig. 3 E–H, Table 2). Head capsule in dorsal and lateral aspect orange-brown; ventrally lighter; pronotum yellowish orange. Eye spot dark; small, ellipsoid. Head and pronotum covered with short (0.1-0.15 mm) setae; seta more dense and longer on frontal lobes. Head capsule with lateral margins parallel, converging to ~ 85% of width at anterior; genal horns protruding in ventral view. Frons sloping gradually ~ 30° from vertex; depressed from width of postclypeus to middle of vertex. Pronotum crescent-shaped, posterior margin evenly rounded to the anterolateral corners. Antennae with 14-18 articles, basal article relative lengths 1>2<3>4. Mandibles with robust basal hump more ~ 3/4th length from apical points. Mandibles abruptly curved ca. 90° along apical fourth. Dentition robust, undulating.

Material examined.

Chile: La Serena, Road 5, Ovalle-Quebrada Seca intersection (-27.356, -70.659), 6OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; imago (UF no. CL26). Chile: Atacama, 3km E PN Llanos de Challe (-30.518, -71.484), 5OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL21). Chile: La Serena, PN Borque Fray Jorge (-30.667, -71.675), 6OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL30). Chile: Valparaiso, La Cruz (-32.852, -71.183), 9OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL33). Chile: Valparaiso, La Cruz (-32.852, -71.183), 9OCT2007, JK, R. Ripa, P. Luppichini; soldier (UF no. CL34). Chile: Santiago de Chile, Mallarauco (-33.459, -70.635), 11MAR1997, M. Rust; soldier (UF no. CL49). Chile: Santiago de Chile (-33.459, -70.635), 15FEB1999, J. Hughes; imago (UF no. SA158). Syntypes deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, were unavailable and not examined.

Biology.

Neotermes chilensis colonies were collected from fence posts, dead branches, and dead tree trunks. An alate was collected in mid-February suggesting a late summer flight season.

Discussion.

The lack of termite diversity in the Neotropical coastal desert can be attributed to its climate and geographical barriers of the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. The entire coast of Peru and much of the Chilean coast is arid, but profound aridity (≤ 20 mm/yr) begins near Pacasmayo, Peru, and extends southward to approximately Copiapo, Chile (Fig. 5, climate data from http://www.weatherbase.com/). Although hyperarid as a result of Humboldt Current cooling, this region is transected by many wooded riparian habitats fed by rain and snowmelt runoff from the Andes, providing food (wood) for only three termite species.

With the addition of N. costaseca , there are now 27 Neotermes species ( Krishna et al. 2013). With only N. costaseca and two other termite species known from the coastal desert of Peru and Chile, it is unlikely that N. costaseca will be found outside of this unique Neotropical biome.