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The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles OPEN ACCESS online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Review Termites (Blattodea: Isoptera) of southern India: current knowledge on distribution and systematic checklist M. Ranjith & C.M. Kalleshwaraswamy 26 May 2021 | Vol. 13 | No. 6 | Pages: 18598–18613 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5781.13.6.18598-18613 For Focus, Scope, Aims, and Policies, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/aims_scope For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/policies_various For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. The journal, the publisher, the host, and the part- Publisher & Host ners are not responsible for the accuracy of the politcal boundaries shown in the maps by the authors. Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2021 | 13(6): 18598–18613 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) OPEN ACCESS htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5781.13.6.18598-18613 #5781 | Received 17 February 2020 | Final received 17 November 2020 | Finally accepted 09 April 2021 REVIEW Termites (Blatodea: Isoptera) of southern India: current knowledge on distributon and systematc checklist M. Ranjith 1 & C.M. Kalleshwaraswamy 2 1,2 Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural and Hortcultural Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka 577204, India. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected] Abstract: A checklist of termites (Blatodea: Isoptera) of southern India with their distributon is presented in this paper. In total, 132 species from fve families are listed, of which Termitdae Latreille, 1802 is the dominant family comprising 101 species from 27 genera and four subfamilies. The recent additons of species to the regional termite diversity are Krishnacapritermes dineshan Amina & Rajmohana, 2020, K. manikandan Amina & Rajmohana, 2020, and Pseudocapritermes kunjepu Mathew, 2020. Out of 132 species recorded from southern India, 60 species and fve genera are endemic to the region, and the subfamily Termitnae Latreille, 1802 accounts for maximum endemism. Keywords: Endemism, taxonomy, Termitdae, white ants. Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 May 2021 (online & print) Citaton: Ranjith, M. & C.M. Kalleshwaraswamy (2021). Termites (Blatodea: Isoptera) of southern India: current knowledge on distributon and systematc checklist. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(6): 18598–18613. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5781.13.6.18598-18613 Copyright: © Ranjith & Kalleshwaraswamy 2021. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distribu- ton of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Funding: Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, New Delhi (F. No. 22018-28/2019CS (Tax)); ICAR junior/senior research fellowship [ICAR-JRF/SRF (PGS)] (erstwhile SRF). Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. Author details: M. Ranjith, PhD scholar (ICAR-JRF/SRF), Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural and Hortcultural Sciences. Presently working on morphological and molecular taxonomy of termites of southern India as part of PhD research. Dr. C.M. Kalleshwaraswamy, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural and Hortcultural Sciences. Area of specializaton are insect taxonomy (especially termites) and virus vector relatonship in plant diseases Author contributons: Both authors contributed equally to the manuscript. Acknowledgements: The authors thankfully acknowledge the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for the fnancial support by means of ICAR junior/senior research fellowship [ICAR-JRF/SRF (PGS)] (erstwhile SRF), Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, New Delhi for fnancial assistance for the research project (F. No. 22018-28/2019CS (Tax)) and the director of research, UAHS, Shivamogga for encouragement. 18598 Termites of southern India Ranjith & Kalleshwaraswamy J TT INTRODUCTION are provided here. Among the reported, Termitdae Latreille, 1802 is the dominant family comprising of 101 Termites, also called “white ants” are considered soil species from four subfamilies. The family Termitdae engineers and structural pests. Interestngly, they are accounts maximum generic diversity also (27 genera) known as eusocial cockroaches in the order Blatodea followed by Kalotermitdae Froggat, 1897 (fve genera), Brunner von Watenwyl, 1882. Molecular phylogenetc and Rhinotermitdae Froggat, 1897 (three genera). The data obtained from termites revealed that, Isoptera genus Odontotermes Holmgren, 1910b (25 species) is not a separate order, and can be considered under in the family Termitdae have high species diversity Blatodea along with cockroaches (Inward et al. 2007). followed by genus Neotermes Holmgren, 1911b from Krishna et al. (2013) estmated about 2,933 species of family Kalotermitdae with 10 species. extant termites in the world. India has a high diversity Endemism of termites to the region is high, out of termites, but the Indian termite fauna shares a very of the 132 species, 60 species (45.45%) (denoted by small porton of the global fauna, i.e., approximately *) and fve genera (denoted by **) are endemic to 295 species, 52 genera, and six families (Krishna et al. southern India. Subfamily Termitnae Latreille, 1802 2013; Rajmohana et al. 2019). The frst ever taxonomic of family Temitdae accounts for maximum endemism work on Indian termites was carried out in southern with 20 species out of 43 endemic species of the India by König (1779) and the last comprehensive work family. Three genera of subfamily Termitnae, viz., was by Bose (1984) who reported 95 species from the Indocapritermes Chhotani, 1997, Krishnacapritermes region. This comprehensive taxonomic work is made to Chhotani, 1997, and Labiocapritermes Krishna, 1968 list all the termites recorded so far from the southern and two genera of subfamily Nasuttermitnae Hare, Indian region, which should serve as a base for further 1937, viz., Ampoulitermes Mathur & Thapa, 1962a taxonomic research. and Emersonitermes Mathur & Sen-Sarma, 1959 are endemic to southern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS Check list of termites of southern India Family Hodotermitdae Desneux, 1904 Southern India comprises fve states of India—Kerala, Subfamily Hodotermitnae Desneux, 1904 Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Genus Anacanthotermes Jacobson, 1905 This region is composed of various climatc conditons 1. Anacanthotermes viarum (König, 1779) ranging from tropical to sub-tropical zones and lies Synonyms: Termes viarum König, 1779; Hodotermes between 8-20°N and 74-85°E. Most of these regions (Anacanthotermes) koenigi Holmgren & Holmgren, lie between the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats and 1917; Anacanthotermes rugifrons Mathur & Sen-Sarma, the coastal region. The Western Ghats is the hotspot 1958. of diversity; climate is hot and arid in some regions Type locality: India: Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore. whereas in other parts it is hot and humid, or cold with Distributon: Tamil Nadu (König 1779; Bose 1984; 25–32 °C temperature during hot season and 23–30 °C Roonwal & Chhotani 1989; Krishna et al. 2013). in the cool season. The checklist has been mainly based on available Family Kalotermitdae Froggat, 1897 literature rather than extensive taxonomic work. The Genus Cryptotermes Banks, 1906 classifcaton is based on Krishna et al. (2013). This 2. Cryptotermes bengalensis (Snyder, 1934) list has been compiled based on Roonwal & Chhotani Synonyms: Kalotermes (Cryptotermes) bengalensis (1989), Chhotani (1997), Krishna et al. (2013), and Snyder, 1934; Calotermes (Cryptotermes) brachygnathus original descriptons. The literature published untl date Jepson, 1931; Calotermes (Cryptotermes) ceylonicus is considered for making the checklist of termites and Jepson, 1931; Cryptotermes angulatus Pinto, 1941. their distributon in southern India. Type locality: India: West Bengal: Sunderbans. Distributon: Andhra Pradesh; Karnataka (Roonwal & Chhotani 1989; Krishna et al. 2013; Shanbhag & RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sundararaj 2013). The checklist for the fve families and 132 species 3. Cryptotermes domestcus (Haviland, 1898) reported from southern India along with their distributon Synonyms: Calotermes domestcus Haviland, 1898; Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2021 | 13(6): 18598–18613 18599 J TT Termites of southern India Ranjith & Kalleshwaraswamy Calotermes (Cryptotermes) ogasawaraensis Oshima, Genus Neotermes Holmgren, 1911 1913; Calotermes (Cryptotermes) dentatus Oshima, 8. Neotermes