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Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Published by: Entomological Society of America
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 99(6):1028-1033. 2006
doi: 10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[1028:ANKTPS]2.0.CO;2
A Nondichotomous Key to Protist Species Identification of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
Department of Entomology, 413 Biological Sciences Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
1Corresponding author, e-mail: jlewis@bugs.ent.uga.edu.
Abstract
A key was developed using morphological and behavioral characters to identify nine genera and 13 species of protists found in the hindgut of three Reticulitermes species— Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), Reticulitermes virginicus (Banks), and Reticulitermes hageni Banks—by using the online IDnature guides by Discover Life. There are seven characters and 13 taxa, each attached to species descriptions, digital stills, or movies to aid in protist species identification. We chose characters for protist species identification that were easy to observe with live samples and a light microscope at 400× magnification. All 11 protists from R. flavipes and nine each in R. virginicus and R. hageni were recognized using original and revised species descriptions. This was the first report of the protist genera Trichomitus from both R. virginicus and R. hageni.
Received: March 23, 2006; Accepted: July 5, 2006
Keywords: symbiotic protists, termite identification, anaerobic protists identification, Parabasalia, Oxymonadida
Host Species Protist Community
Reticulitermes flavipes (Fig. 1).
Reticulitermes virginicus (Fig. 2).
Reticulitermes hageni (Fig. 3).
Cell Size
4.5–30 μm (Fig. 1e and f, Fig. 2e and f, Fig. 3c and f).
20–80 μm (Fig. 1a, b, g, and i; Fig. 2b, d, and h; Fig. 3b, e, and i).
65–150 μm (Fig. 1c, d, and k; Fig. 2a, c, and g; Fig. 3a, d, and h).
100–275 μm (Fig. 1j).
Cell Shape
Anterior rostrum (Fig. 1c and d; Fig. 2a and c; Fig. 3d and h).
Fusiform (Fig. 1c, d, and i; Fig. 2a, c, and d; Fig. 3d, e, and h).
Lanceolate (Fig. 1a, b, d, j, and k; Fig. 2a, g, and h; Fig. 3a, b, and h).
Oval (Fig. 1e, f, and h; Fig. 2e, f, and i; Fig. 3c, f, and g).
Pyriform (Fig. 1a, c, g, j, and k; Fig. 2b, c, g, and h; Fig. 3a, b, d, and i).
Number of Flagella
8 or Less (Fig. 1a, b, h, i, k, and e; Fig. 2f–i; Fig. 3a–c and g).
More than eight (Fig. 1c, d, f, g, and i; Fig. 2b–e; Fig. 3d–f, h, and i).
Placement of Flagella
Anterior region only (Fig. 1d, f, and h; Fig. 2a, e, and i; Fig. 3f and g).
Anterior and posterior region, including recurrent flagella (Fig. 1h, Fig. 2i, Fig. 3g).
Flagellar cords (Fig. 1a, b, and j; Fig. 2g and h; Fig. 3a and b).
Posterior region only (Fig. 1a, b, j, and k; Fig. 2g and h; Fig. 3a and b).
Spiraling flagellar rows extend almost to the posterior end (Fig. 1c and g; Fig. 2b and c; Fig. 3d and i).
Spiraling flagellar rows extend to posterior end (Fig. 1i, Fig. 2d, Fig. 3e).
Axostyle
Articulated (Fig. 1c, e, f, and h; Fig. 2c, e, f, and i; Fig. 3c, d, f, and g).
Extend from posterior end (Fig. 1a, b, j, k, and e; Fig. 2f–h; Fig. 3a–c).
Nonarticulated (Fig. 1c, d, and f–i; Fig. 2a–e, and i; Fig. 3d–j).
Indicator Protist Species Used in Termite Identification
Reticulitermes flavipes (Fig. 1b).
Reticulitermes virginicus (Fig. 2a).
Reticulitermes hageni (Fig. 3b).
Original and revised protist species descriptions (Leidy 1877, 1881; Grassi 1879, 1892, 1917; Koidzumi 1916, 1917; Dubosq and Grassé 1924, 1928; Kirby 1924, Powell 1928, Brown 1930a,b, 1931; Boykin et al. 1986; Lewis and Forschler 2004b) following the terminology of Koidzumi (1921) and Kudo (1966)
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