Diverse Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae (Isoptera) in Dominican Amber

Abstract

The most diverse and best-preserved paleofauna of the higher termites heretofore known, all found in Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic, is described. The imago of Coptotermes priscus Emerson is redescribed, and the soldier of C. priscus, the first known fossil soldier of this genus, is described. The fauna includes the following 29 new species, all in existing genera, with Krishna and Grimaldi as authors of each: in the Rhinotermitidae, two new species based on imagoes of each-Coptotermes hirsutus and C. paleodominicanus; in the Termitidae, 23 new species based on imagoes-Amitermes lucidus, Anoplotermes bohio, A. cacique, A. carib, A. maboya, A. naboria, A. nitaino, A. quisqueya, A. taino, Atlantitermes antillea, A. caribea, A. magnoculus, Microcerotermes insulanus, M. setosus, Nasutitermes amplioculatus, N. incisus, N. magnocellus, N. medioculatus, N. pilosus, N. seminudus, Subulitermes hispaniola, S. insularis, and Termes primitivus; in the Nasutitermitinae four new species based on nasute soldiers-Caribitermes hispaniola, Nasutitermes rotundicephalus, Parvitermes longinasus, and Velocitermes bulbus. This brings the total termite fauna in Dominican amber to four families, 17 genera, and 39 species, a number that exceeds that of the present-day fauna of Hispaniola. Biogeographical, paleoecological, and phylogenetic implications of the Dominican amber termites are discussed.

Termites (Isoptera): Their Phylogeny, Classification, and Rise to Ecological Dominance

“…30 Ma (Martins-Neto and Pesenti, 2006;, a putative termitid from the Bembridge Marls [Jarzembowski, 1980] is probably a rhinotermitid). The first diverse paleofaunas of Termitidae-more than 30 species-are in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic (Krishna and Grimaldi, 2009) and Mexico, which are very similar to modern Neotropical faunas. This dramatic appearance is probably due to the fact that these ambers are the only major fossil insect deposits from the Neogene that were formed in the tropics.…”

“…Recent studies have reported 18 new termites from the Cretaceous Grimaldi, 2000, 2003;Grimaldi et al, 2008) and 38 species from the Tertiary (Nel and Bourguet, 2006;Wappler and Engel, 2006;Krishna, 2007a, 2007b;Engel, 2008;Krishna and Grimaldi, 2009), comprising about one-quarter of all described fossil species. Nearly 80% of these species are preserved in amber, from the Early Cretaceous of Lebanon, the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar and New Jersey, the Eocene of the Baltic Region and France, and the Miocene of Mexico and the Dominican Republic (deposits are reviewed in Rasnitsyn and Quicke, 2002;Grimaldi and Engel, 2005).…”

The termites of Early Eocene Cambay amber, with the earliest record of the Termitidae (Isoptera)

“…All previous records of Termitidae are from the Late Oligocene or younger (Nel and Paicheler 1993; Martins-Neto and Pesenti 2006; Krishna and Grimaldi 2009). Nanotermes thereby extends the age of this family by a further 20 million years.…”

Parvitermes (Isoptera, Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) in Central America: Two new termite species and reassignment of Nasutitermes mexicanus

“…Caribitermes discolor may also have a mainland lineage as it resembles an undescribed species from Panama (PN1315, Scheffrahn unpubl.). Therefore, it is quite possible, with the exception of the relict Constrictotermes guantanamensis from Cuba (Krěcěk et al 1996), that all West Indian termites share congeneric species on the Central American mainland and that the West Indian fauna arose from Pleistocene/Miocene (Krishna and Grimaldi 2009) overwater dispersal events from Central America (Darlington 1938, Hedges 1996) or the more recent late Pleistocene land connections (Scheffrahn et al 2006). …”