AI Article Synopsis
- R. speratus (Kolbe) is a significant pest in East Asia, causing damage to wooden structures in urban areas, with its presence reported across Korea, Japan, and China.
- In the past, only one subspecies, R. speratus kyushuensis, was documented in Korea, but this study presents the first record of another subspecies, R. speratus speratus.
- The identification of R. speratus speratus was based on soldier morphology and genetic analyses, showing key morphological differences and a 3.06% genetic divergence compared to R. speratus kyushuensis.
Article Abstract
Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe) is economically important pest in East Asia including Korea, Japan, and China where they infest wooden structures in urban areas. Previously, it has been reported that R. speratus consists of 5 subspecies, R. speratus kyushuensis Morimoto, R. speratus speratus Kolbe, R. speratus leptolabralis Morimoto, R. speratus okinawanus Morimoto, R. speratus yaeyamanus Morimoto, while only R. speratus kyushuensis was recorded in Korea in the past. However, it remains elusive if different subspecies of R. speratus other than R. speratus kyushuensis are present in Korea. In this study, we report the first record of R. speratus speratus from Korea, which was verified using soldier morphology and molecular characteristics obtained from a mitochondrial gene. R. speratus speratus Kolbe, 1885 (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) are found in several provinces, mainly southern regions in Korea, whereas R. speratus kyushuensis are distributed throughout the country. Our morphological comparison showed that R. speratus speratus can be distinguishable from R. speratus kyushuensis by the ratio of the posterior postmentum width to length. In the molecular comparison, R. speratus speratus revealed genetic differences of 3.06% (range 2.60-4.10%) from R. speratus kyushuensis using cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene sequences.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jee/toad183 | DOI Listing |
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