Annals of the Entomological Society of America

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Annals of the Entomological Society of America 97(6):1242-1251. 2004
doi: 10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[1242:PCFFCA]2.0.CO;2

Protist Communities from Four Castes and Three Species of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

J. L. Lewis and B. T. Forschler

Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 413 Biological Sciences Building, Athens, GA 30602

Abstract

Previous studies indicate subterranean termite protist communities are qualitatively similar within termite species but differ in relative species abundance between castes. We investigated protist communities from four castes of Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), Reticulitermes virginicus (Banks), and Reticulitermes hageni Banks. We used a standardized counting technique and found termite workers and early stage nymphs had the largest population of protists, followed by soldiers and alates. R. flavipes workers averaged 59,000 flagellates compared with 21,000 in R. hageni and 14,000 in R. virginicus. We recorded two new genera, Microjoenia Grassi and Monocercomonas Grassi, from R. virginicus. We identified eight protist species from R. hageni, whereas only four have been previously noted. This is the first report of Dinenympha fimbriata Kirby, Holomastigotes elongatum Grassi, Monocercomonas Grassi, Pyrsonympha minor Powell, Spirotrichonympha flagellata (Grassi), and Trichonympha agilis Leidy from R. hageni. Across all termite species, we found that workers, nymphs, and soldiers had similar relative protist species abundances, with alates being different. The results also demonstrated the utility of using the relative abundance of indicator protist species to identify these three subterranean termite species. The presence of Dinenympha gracilis can be used to distinguish R. flavipes from R. virginicus and R. hageni. R. virginicus has a greater abundance of T. agilis, compared with the other two termite species. The relative abundance of D. fimbriata and Pyrsonympha from R. hageni is greater than those found in both R. flavipes and R. virginicus.

Received: January 30, 2004; Accepted: July 21, 2004

Keywords: Reticulitermes spp, termite identification, Oxymonadida, Trichomonadida, Hypermastigida



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Fig. 1. (a–k) Light microscopy of protist species from R. flavipes. (a) P. vertens. (b) P. major. (c) S. flagellata. (d) T. agilis. (e) T. trypanoides. (f) S. kofoidi. (g) D. fimbriata. (h) D. gracilis. (i) Monocercomonas sp. (j) H. elongatum. (k) M. fallax. Scale bar, 10 μm (photographs taken using a Leica microscope at 400× magnification, and images acquired using an AxioCam digital camera)

Fig. 2. (a–h) Light microscopy of protist species from R. virginicus. (a) H. elongatum. (b) P. minor. (c) D. fimbriata. (d) S. flagellata. (e) T. agilis. (f) Microjoenia sp. (g) S. kofoidi. (h) Monocercomonas sp. Scale bar, 10 μm (photographs taken using a Leica microscope at 400× magnification, and images acquired using an AxioCam digital camera)

Fig. 3. (a–h) Light microscopy of protist species from R. hageni. (a) P. minor. (b) T. agilis. (c) S. kofoidi. (d) H. elongatum. (e) D. fimbriata. (f) Monocercomonas sp. (g) Spirotrichonympha flagellata (h) M. pyriformis. Scale bar, 10 μm (photographs taken using a Leica microscope at 400× magnification, and images acquired using an AxioCam digital camera)

Fig. 4. Mean (±SD) total protist population from four castes of R. flavipes, R. virginicus, and R. hageni. Means followed by the same letter do not differ significantly from each other within termite species at P < 0.05; Duncan’s multiple range test

table

Table 1. Termite species, collection locale, date (in 2003), and number of replicates per sample for comparison of protists by termite caste

table

Table 2. Protist species from R. flavipes, R. virginicus, and R. hageni reported in the literature and those found in the present study

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Table 3. Relative species abundance (±SD) by protist species between castes of R. flavipes

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Table 4. Relative species abundance (±SD) by protist species between castes of R. virginicus

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Table 5. Relative species abundance (±SD) by protist species between castes of R. hageni

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Table 6. Relative protist species relative abundance (±SD) from the worker caste in three species of Reticulitermes

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C.J. Peterson, P.D. Gerard, T.L. Wagner. (2007) Charring does not affect wood infestation by subterranean termites. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 0:0, 071120225250003-???
Online publication date: 20-Dec-2007.
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