Seeking quantitative morphological characters for species identification in soldiers of Puerto Rican Heterotermes (Dictyoptera, Blattaria, Termitoidae, Rhinotermitidae)

Abstract

Subterranean termites in the genus Heterotermes Froggatt (Rhinotermitidae: Heterotermitinae) are pantropical wood feeders capable of causing significant structural damage. The aim of this study was to investigate soldier morphological attributes in three Puerto Rican species of Heterotermes previously identified by sequencing of two mitochondrial genes and attributed to Heterotermes tenuis (Hagen), H. convexinotatus (Snyder) and H. cardini (Snyder). Soldiers (n = 156) were imaged and measured using the Auto-Montage image-stacking program. We demonstrated that Puerto Rican Heterotermes soldiers could not be identified to species level based upon seven morphometric indices or any combination thereof. Nor could differences in soldier head pilosity be used to discriminate species, in contrast to previous findings. However, previously described characters of the soldier tergal setae were reported to be useful in discriminating H. tenuis from both of its Puerto Rican congeners.