First record of Speculitermes chadaensis Chatterjee & Thapa, 1964 (Isoptera: Termitidae) from the Western Ghats, India

Abstract

Speculitermes chadaensis Chatterjee & Thapa, 1964, a termite species under Termitidae family is reported for the first time from the Western Ghats. A distribution map of the species is also provided.

Occurrence of Cyperus root borer, Athesapeuta cyperi Marshall (Curculionidae: Coleoptera: Baridinae) as a minor pest of banana

“…4), C. ceylonicus (Fig. 3), H.indicola and Heterotermes malabaricus Snyder (Amina and Rajmohana, 2013a;Maiti, 2006;Roonwal and Chhotani, 1989;Sundararaj et al, 2013), are similar to C. beckeri in their attacks. All of them attack both live and dead wood in agricultural/ plantation crops and forests alike.…”

“…Sixty species were listed in the recent checklist on termites of Kerala by Amina and Rajmohana, 2014, and the present study updates the total number to 61. The checklist of termites of Kerala, by Mathew, 2015, listed only 58 species, missed to include Heterotermes indicola (Wasmann) (Amina and Rajmohana, 2013a) and Ceylonitermellus periyarensis Amina and Rajmohana (Amina and Rajmohana, 2013b). ovoid head, labrum subtriangular, sides strongly converging and terminating in a hyaline pointed apex.…”

New Records of Euhamitermes Holmgren From South India

“…The two new records of Euhmaitermes were earlier recorded only from their type locality, however, these present records further to the southern India instinct to the importance of detailed study of termite fauna of India, especially on the highly diverse soil termites. Recently, many new records of soil termites from Kerala were made by Amina et al (2016) and Amina and Rajmohana (2021), indicating the intensive surveys and extensive taxonomic works in India are required for better understanding of termite diversity and their distribution.…”

“…Termites are dominant arthropods and as decomposers play a key role in nutrient recycling (Amina et al, 2016). India accounts vast diversity of termites consisting of 295 species under 52 genera and six families; of these, family Termitidae accounts for maximum species diversity with 209 species under 34 genera (Rajmohana et al, 2019).…”