Abstract
Three sympatric Reticulitermes species have been identified in Georgia, USA, based on morphological characters from alates and soldiers: R. flavipes, R. virginicus, and R. hageni, but species identification at individual collection sites is often difficult because alate production is seasonal and soldiers comprise 1–3% of the colony. We therefore set up an experiment to determine if chemical phenotypes and mtDNA haplotypes can be used together to separate species of subterranean termites. Subterranean termites of the order Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) were collected from 20 inspection ports across four soil provinces in Georgia. Each collection was identified to species using dichotomous keys. Two collections, HH11 and BH25, however, could not be unequivocally keyed to species and were classified as unknown. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II (COII) gene was sequenced from individual members of each collection and the variation in cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes from these same collections was characterized. The cuticular hydrocarbon and mtDNA phylogenetic analyses show agreement with both unknown collections falling out in a separate clade. Specimens from HH11 nad BH25 are different morphologically, chemically, and genetically from the three known sympatric species in Georgia. Our results suggest that these two collections may represent at least one new taxon in Reticulitermes. Furthermore, the association of cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes and mtDNA haplotypes demonstrates that, when combined with morphological characters, they are useful in separating known species, determining new species, and understanding termite evolution.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Avise, J. C. 1994. Molecular Markers, Natural History and Evolution. Chapman & Hall, New York.
Banks, N., and Snyder. 1920. A revision of the Nearctic termites with notes on biology and geographic distribution. Bulletin 108, U.S. National Museum, 195 pp.
BagnÉres, A. G., ClÉment, J. L., Blum, M. S., Severson, R. F., Joulie, C., and Lange, C. 1990. Cuticular hydrocarbons and defensive compounds of Reticulitermes flavipes (Koller) and R. santonensis (Feytaud): Polymorphism and chemotaxonomy. J. Chem. Ecol. 16:3213–3244.
Brown, W. V., Carter, F. L., Lacey, M. J., Watson, J. A. L., McDaniel, C. A., and Barrett, R. A. 1990. Preliminary examination of cuticular hydrocarbons of worker termites as chemotaxonomic characters for some Australian species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Sociobiology 16:305–328.
Brown, W. V., Watson, J. A. L., and Lacey, M. J. 1996. A chemotaxonomic survey using cuticular hydrocarbons of some species of the Australian harvester termite genus Drepanotermes (Isoptera: Termitidae). Sociobiology 27:199–221.
Carson, H. L. 1968. The population flush and its genetic consequences, pp. 123–137, in R. C. Lewontin (ed.). Population Biology and Evolution. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York.
ClÉment, J. L., Lange, C., Blum, M., Howard, R., and Lloyd, H. 1985. Chimosystematique du genre Reticulitermes (Isopteres) aux U.S.A. et en Europe. Actes Coll. Insectes Soc. 2:123–131.
ClÉment, J. L., Howard, R. W., Blum, M., and Lloyd, H. 1986. L'isolement spÉcifique des termites du genre Reticulitermes (Isopteres) du sudest Etats-Unis. Mis en Évidence grâce à la chimie et au comportement d'un espÉce jumelle de R. virdingcus = R. malletei sp. nov. et d'une semispecies de R. flavipes. C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris 302:67–70.
Farris, J. S. 1969. A successive approximations approach to character weighting. Syst. Zool. 18:374–385.
Felsenstein, J. 1993. PHYLIP (Phylogeny Inference Package), version 3.5c. Department of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle.
Forschler, B. T., and Jenkins, T. M. 2000. Evaluation of subterranean termite biology using genetic, chemotaxonomic, and morphometric markers and ecological data: A testimonial for multi-disciplinary efforts. Trends Entomol. In press.
Forschler, B. T., and Robinson, W. H. 1999. Ants and subterranean termites in the urban environment: The terminology of population management control tactics. pp. 589–595, in K. B. Wildey (ed.). Proceedings, 3rd International Conference on Insect Pests in the Urban Environment.
Forschler, B. T., and Townsend, M. L. 1996. Mark-release-recapture estimates of Reticulitermes spp. (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) colony foraging populations from Georgia, U.S.A. Environ. Entomol. 25:952–962.
Haverty, M. I., and Nelson, L. J. 1997. Cuticular hydrocarbons of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: rhinotermitidae) from California indicate undescribed species. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 118B:869–880.
Haverty, M. I., Page, M., Nelson, L. J., and Blomquist, G. J. 1988. Cuticular hydrocarbons of dampwood termites, Zootermopsis: Intra-and intercolony variation and potential as taxonomic characters. J. Chem. Ecol. 14:1035–1058.
Haverty, M. I., Thorne, B. L., and Page, M. 1990. Surface hydrocarbon components of two species of Nasutitermes from Trinidad. J. Chem. Ecol. 16:2441–2450.
Haverty, M. I., Nelson, L. J., and Page, M. 1991. Preliminary investigations of the cuticular hydrocarbons of North American Reticulitermes and tropical Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) for chemosystematic studies. Sociobiology 19:51–76.
Haverty, M. I., Nelson, L. J., Thoren, B. L., Collins, M. S., Darlington, J. P. E. C., and Page, M. 1992. Cuticular hydrocarbons for species determination of tropical termites, pp. 58–66, in C. E. Conrad and L. A. Newell (tech. coords.). Proceedings of the session on Tropical Forestry for People of the Pacific. Pacific Science Congress, Honolulu, Hawaii, May 22–28, 1991. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech Report PSW-129.
Haverty, M. I., Forschler, B. T., and Nelson, L. J. 1996a. An assessment of the taxonomy of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) from the southeastern United States based on cuticular hydrocarbons. Sociobiology 28:287–318.
Haverty, M. I., Grace, J. K., Nelson, L. J., and Yamamoto, R. T. 1996b. Intercaste, intercolony, and temporal variation in cuticular hydrocarbons of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). J. Chem. Ecol. 22:1813–1834.
Haverty, M. I., Nelson, L. J., and Forschler, B. T. 1999a. New cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) from the United States. Sociobiology 34:1–21.
Haverty, M. I., Copren, K. A., Getty, G. M., and Lewis, V. R. 1999b. Agonistic behavior and cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes of colonies of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) from northern California. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 92:269–277.
Hein, J. 1989. A new method that simultaneously aligns and reconstructs ancestral sequences for any number of homologous sequences, when the phylogeny in given. Mol. Biol. Evol. 6:649–658.
Howard, R. W., and Blomquist, G. J. 1982. Chemical ecology and biochemistry of insect hydrocarbons. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 27:149–172.
Howard, R. W., Thorne, B. L., Levings, S. C., and Mcdaniel, C. A. 1988. Cuticular hydrocarbons as chemotaxonomic characters for Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) and N. ephratae (Holmgren) (Isoptera: Termitidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 81:395–399.
Hudson, R., Boos, D. D., and Kaplan, N. L. 1992. A statistical test for detecting geographic subdivision. Mol. Biol. Evol. 9:138–151.
Jenkins, T. M., Basten, C. J., and Anderson, W. W. 1996. Mitochondrial gene divergence of Colombian Drosophila pseudoobscura. Mol. Biol. Evol. 13:1266–1275.
Jenkins, T. M., Basten, C. J., Dean, R. Mitchell, S. E., Kresovich, S., and Forschler, B. T. 1999a. Matriarchal genetic structure of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) populations. Sociobiology 33:239–263.
Jenkins, T. M., Basten, C. J., Kresovich, S., and Forschler, B. T. 1999b. Mitochondrial gene sequence questions Reticulitermes sp. social structure (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Sociobiology 34:161–172.
Juan, C., Oromi, P., and Hewitt, G. M. 1996. Phylogeny of the genus Hegeter (Tenebrionidae, Coleoptera) and its colonization of the Canary Islands deduced from cytochrome Oxidase I mitochondrial DNA sequences. Heredity 76:392–403.
Kaib, M., Brandl, R., and R. K. N. Bagine. 1991. Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles: A valuable tool in termite taxonomy. Naturwissenschaften 78:176–179.
Kluge, A. G., and Farris, J. S. 1969. Quantitative phyletics and the evolution of anurans. Syst. Zool. 18:1–32.
Krishna, K. 1970. Taxonomy, phylogeny, and distribution of termites, pp. 127–152, in K. Krishna and F. M. Weesner (eds.). Biology of Termites, Vol. II. Academic Press, New York.
Mayr, E. 1954. Change of genetic environment and evolution, pp. 157–180, in J. Huxley, A. C. Hardy, and E. B. Ford (eds.). Evolution as a Process. Allen and Unwin, London.
Mishler, B. D., Lewis, L. A., Buchheim, M. A., Renzaglia, K. S., Garbury, D. J., Delwiche, C. F., Zechman, F. W., Kantz, T. S., and Chapman, R. L. 1994. Phylogenetic relationships of the “green algae” and “bryophytes.” Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 81:451–483.
Nutting, W. L. 1990. Insecta: Isoptera, pp. 997–1032. in D. L. Dindal. (ed.). Soil Biology Guide. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Page, M., Nelson, L. J., B. T. Forschler, and Haverty, M. I. 1999. Phylogenetic analysis of chemical phenotypes of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) from North America suggests three lineages. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. Submitted.
Perkins, H. F., and Shaffer, M. E. 1977. Soil associations and Land use Potential of Georgia soils. Agriculture Experiment Station, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Polizzi, J. M., and Forschler, B. T. 1998. Intra-and interspecific agonism in Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) and R. virginicus (Banks) and effects of arena and group size in laboratory assays. Insectes Soc 45:43–49.
Scheffrahn, R. H., and Su, N.-Y. 1994. Keys to soldier and winged adult termites (Isoptera) of Florida. Fla. Entomol. 77:460–474.
Simon, C., Frati, F., Beckenbach, A., Crespi, B., Liu, H., and Flook, P. 1994. Evolution, weighting, and phylogenetic utility of mitochondrial gene sequences and a compilation of conserved polymerase chain reaction primers. Anns. Entomol. Soc. Am. 87:651–701.
Snyder, T. E. 1949. Catalog of the termites (Isoptera) of the world. Smithson. Misc. Collect. Vol. 112.
Snyder, T. E. 1954. Order Isoptera. The Termites of the United States and Canada. National Pest Control Association, New York.
Swofford, D. L. 1993. PAUP: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony, MacVersion 3.1.1. Formerly distributed by Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois.
Taylor, M. F. J., Mckechnie, W. M., Pierce, N., and Reitman, M. K. 1993. The Lepidopteran mitochondrial control region: structure and evolution. Mol. Evol. 10:1259–1272.
Templeton, A. R. 1980. The theory of speciation via the founder principle. Genetics 94:1011–1038.
Watson, J. A. L., Brown, W. V., Miller, L. R., Carter, F. L., and Lacey, M. J. 1989. Taxonomy of Heterotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in southeastern Australia: Cuticular hydrocarbons of workers and soldier and alate morphology. Syst. Entomol. 14:299–325.
Weesner, F. M. 1965. Termites of the United States. The National Pest Control Association, Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Weesner, F. M. 1970. Termites of the Nearctic region, pp. 477–525. in K. Krishna and F. M. Weesner (eds.). Biology of Termites, Vol. II. Academic Press, New York.
Wright, S. 1951. The genetical structure of populations. Ann. Eugen. 15:323–354.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jenkins, T.M., Haverty, M.I., Basten, C.J. et al. Correlation of Mitochondrial Haplotypes with Cuticular Hydrocarbon Phenotypes of Sympatric Reticulitermes Species from the Southeastern United States. J Chem Ecol 26, 1525–1542 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005548111591
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005548111591