Category:
Pilot project
Acronym:
Dag
Coordinator:
Maurice Leponce (RBINS) and Thomas Bourguignon (ULB)
JEMU partner:
Zoltán T. Nagy, Gontran Sonet
Project summary:
Termites are among the most abundant animals in tropical rainforest but still remain far from well-known, what is especially true for one group, the Anoplotermes-group. It is before all due to absence of soldier caste in this group, which is fundamental for termite species discrimination. In this study, we are planning to answer the following question: Are morphological characters supported by genetic evidence in species recognition of the Anoplotermes-group ? To do so, we will sequence a COI gene fragment for 400 specimens and two other genes (COII plus one nuclear gene to be defined) for about 30 already distinguished morphological species. In this way, we are going to shed light on species diversity and phylogenetic relationships among taxa of the underexplored Anoplotermes-group.
Collaborations:
Yves Roisin, Eco-éthologie évolutive, ULB
Student training (2009): Joris Vermeulen, KHLeuven
Student training (2009): Aurélie Dery, 1st Master at ULB
Lab work progress:
Completed: > 60 COI, 30 12S rRNA, 30 COII and 30 28S rRNA sequences produced
Data analysis:
Completed
Starting date:
2008
Project status:
Completed
Output:
2 Peer-reviewed papers:
Bourguignon, T., Scheffrahn, R.H., Krecek, J., Nagy, Z.T., Sonet, G. & Roisin, Y. 2010. Towards a revision of the Neotropical soldierless termites (Isoptera : Termitidae): redescription of the genus Anoplotermes and description of Longustitermes, gen. nov. Invertebrate Systematics 24: 357–370. [IF: 2.492]
Bourguignon, T., Scheffrahn, R.H., Nagy, Z. T., Sonet, G., Host, B., Roisin, Y. 2016. Towards a revision of the Neotropical soldierless termites (Isoptera: Termitidae): redescription of the genus Grigiotermes Mathews and description of five new genera. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176: 15 - 35. [IF: 2.316]