Nasutitermes callimorphus Mathews 1977
Creators: name: Scheffrahn, Rudolf H.
name: Roisin, Yves
name: Szalanski, Allen L.
name: Austin, James W.
name: Duquesne, Edouard
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Blattodea
Termitidae
Nasutitermes
Nasutitermes callimorphus

description: Nasutitermes callimorphus Mathews, 1977
“ N. indistinctus ” [nomen nudum] page 161, fig. 110 (Mathews 1977) should read Nasutitermes callimorphus (Constantino and Cancello 1999).
IMAGO (Fig. 1A, B; Table 1). Head capsule dark sepia brown with light brown postclypeus, genae, and paler spotting at all setal insertions; fontanelle slit whitish. Only faint posterior remnants of epicranial suture visible. Compound eyes black, ocelli glossy tan. Numerous pale setae of different lengths on head capsule, pronotum, and postclypeus; few on labrum. Pronotum pale sepia brown, distinctly paler than head capsule and with pale T-shaped mark; pronotum more distinctly and more densely pimpled setal insertions than on head capsule. In lateral view, vertex and anterior occiput slightly bulging; eyes subcircular and medium sized. In dorsal view, head capsule trapezoidal; ocelli small; eyes and ocelli separated by distance about maximum diameter of ocelli. Head capsule, pronotum, and wing scales densely pilose with long setae. Antennae with 15 articles; relative length formula 2=3<4=5. In dorsal view, pronotum narrow, subtriangular; anterior margin rectate and with minute median indentation; pronotum sides distinctly convergent; anterior margin of pronotum barely elevated, elevation posteriorly delimited with short dark line on each side of T-shape mark. Pronotum posterior margin half width of anterior margin and slightly emarginate or concave. Mandible morphology typical for Nasutitermes (Ahmad 1950).
Comparisons
The N. callimorphus imago superficially resembles those of N. corniger (Figs. 4A, B) and N. ephratae (Figs. 7A, B). Imagos of both have very similar coloration, but N. callimorphus is distinctly smaller in most measurements, e.g., maximum head width at eyes (1.08–1.13, 1.34–1.57, and 1.31–1.40 mm; maximum pronotum width (0.74–0.85, 1.05–1.36, and 0.97–1.11 mm), and total length with wings (9.31–10.77 mm vs. 12.10–15.83 mm) and fore wing length to suture (7.58–9.04, 9.44–12.77, and 12.2–12.8 mm) for N. callimorphus, N. corniger, and N. ephratae, respectively (Scheffrahn et al. 2005, Mathews 1977). The dorsal outline of the N. callimorphus pronotum is subtriangular (Fig. 1A), while in N. corniger it is more trapezoidal (Fig. 4A), and in N. ephratae the lateral and posterior margins are nearly evenly rounded (Fig. 7A). In dorsal view, the compound eyes of N. ephratae bulge upward and forward while in N. callimorphus and N. corniger the eyes project more laterally. The compound eyes of N. callimorphus are nearly round (Fig. 1B), while in N. corniger (Fig. 4B) and in N. ephratae (Fig. 7B) they are elliptical. Both the compound eyes and ocelli of N. ephratae are proportionally larger than the other two species. The head capsule and pronotum pilosity of the N. callimorphus imago is less dense and that of N. corniger or N. ephratae.
SOLDIER (Fig. 2A–F, Table 2). The description of N. callimorphus soldier by Mathews (1977) is adequate.
*From eleven localities.
Comparisons
The N. callimorphus soldier (Fig. 2) superficially resembles that of the N. corniger (Fig. 5) and the N. ephratae soldier (Fig. 8). The N. callimorphus soldier is distinctly smaller in most measurements, e.g., head length with nasus (1.19–1.36, 1.28–1.39, 1.37–1.77, and 1.29–1.56 mm); maximum head width (0.72–0.79, 0.77–0.83, 0.82– 1.31, and 0.68–97 mm); and maximum pronotum width (0.37–0.39, 0.37–0.42, 0.44–0.65, and 0.37–0.49 mm); for N. callimorphus herein, N. callimorphus (Mathews 1977 in italics), N. corniger (Scheffrahn et al. 2005), and N. ephratae (Mathews 1977), respectively.
The anterior pronotal lobe of the N. callimorphus soldier has only very short anterior marginal setae (Fig. 2B), while the anterior pronotal lobes of N. corniger (Fig. 5B) and N. ephratae (Fig. 8B) soldiers also bear much longer setae. The antennal relatively length formula of N. callimorphus is 2=3>4<5, while in N. corniger and in N. ephratae the formulae are 2<3>4<5. Both N. callimorphus (Fig. 2C) and N. corniger (Fig. 5C) soldiers have fine short setae on the tergite interiors of while in N. ephratae, setae are pronouncedly more minute (Fig. 8C).
The vertex of N. callimorphus in lateral view (Fig. 2E) is nearly straight while in N. corniger (Fig. 5E) and in N. ephratae (Fig. 8E) they have a median concavity.
WORKER (Figs. 1C, D). Dimorphic; major workers more common. Head capsule dark brown with broad whitish cranial sutures, with scattered medium setae. Pronotum with light brown margins, lighter interior; a row of very small setae along anterior lobe, a few long setae on both lobes. Gut configuration very similar to N. corniger (Fontes 1998). Enteric valve armature composed of a single basal grouping of ca. 36 scattered spines, three median quadrate patches of ca. 20–25 spines, and three anterior elongate groupings of 4–10 spines; a few additional spines scattered randomly. Major workers (mean ± S.D.) maximum head width 0.96 ± 0.032 mm; maximum pronotum width 0.48 ± 0.031 mm. Minor workers (mean ± S.D.) maximum head width 0.78 ± 0.026 mm; maximum pronotum width 0.40 ± 0.023 mm.
Comparisons
The N. callimorphus worker superficially resembles those of N. corniger (Figs. 4C, D) and N. ephratae (Figs 7C, D) but the head capsule and pronotum is darker especially in the genal region. In lateral view, the postclypeus of N. callimorphus rises as a gentle ca. 120° peak, while in the other two species, the postclypeus in bulbous and inflated. In lateral view, the pronotum of N. callimorphus has a couple of long and many minute setae on the anterior lobe while in the other species, there are more long setae and the minute setae are longer. The EVA spines of N. callimorphus workers (Fig. 3A) are smaller and more delicate that either N. corniger (Fig. 6A) or N. ephratae (Fig. 9A). The N. callimorphus workers are distinctly smaller in all measurements.
Distribution and biology
Nasutitermes callimorphus (suppl. Table 1, Fig. 13A) along with N. corniger (Fig. 13B, Santos et al. 2017) and N. ephratae (Fig. 13C, Scheffrahn et al. 2005, Santos et al. 2022) are among the most broadly distributed termites in the Neotropics. All are wood feeders and can be pestiferous (Constantino 2002). Nasutitermes callimorphus is a forest species, while N. corniger and N. ephratae are found in nearly all habitats. Its preference for the forest is confirmed by the species distribution model which shows a high suitability in most of the neotropical forests (Fig. 14). It lives in small colonies and nests in dead, often thin branches, including those still on living trees, an unusual habit among congeners. Colonies are also located underneath logs on the forest floor (Fig. 3B). Foragers behave much like N. corniger and N. ephratae with which they are usually sympatric. Nasutitermes callimorphus may be monogynous based on a single functional physogastric queen collected. Presence of mature alates in tree branch galleries on Guadeloupe at the end of May and beginning of June suggests that flights commence in the beginning of the rainy season. Nasutitermes corniger builds both epigeal and arboreal nests with a friable carton texture (Fig. 6B) while N. ephratae builds globous arboreal nests that are covered with a smooth skin (Fig. 9B). Nasutitermes nigriceps, a larger species, is found in dryer coastal zones of Central America, northern South America, and parts of the West Indies (Fig. 13D).
Genetic relationships
Based on the maximum parsimony analysis of the 16S rRNA sequences (length = 248, CI = 0.774) N. callimorphus formed a distinct clade. With maximum likelihood analysis (Fig. 11), N. callimorphus is sister species of N. intermedius (whose transfer to Cortaritermes was proposed by Cuezzo et al. 2015, but not supported by phylogenetic evidence) and within the same clade as N. corniger, N. coxipoensis, N. ephratae, and N. globiceps (Fig. 11). With the COII genetic marker, the maximum likelihood analysis revealed that all of the N. callimorphus samples formed a distinct clade, that was a sister group to N. intermedius (Fig. 12). This clade fell within a group consisting of N. corniger, N. ephratae, N. coxipoensis, and N. globiceps. Similarly, Roy et al. (2014), using the combined sequences of 16S and COII genes, comes to the same conclusion.
description: Published as part of Scheffrahn, Rudolf H., Roisin, Yves, Szalanski, Allen L., Austin, James W. & Duquesne, Edouard, 2024, Expanded range of Nasutitermes callimorphus Mathews, 1977 (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae), comparison with N. corniger (Motschulsky, 1855) and N. ephratae (Holmgren, 1910), and synonymy of N. dasyopsis Thorne, 1989 into N. nigriceps (Haldeman, 1854), pp. 57-78 in Zootaxa 5507 (1) on pages 59-66, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5507.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/13747581