112-474: See text Mastotermitidae is a family of termites with one sole living species, Mastotermes darwiniensis which is found only in northern Australia. The remaining genera of this family are only known from the fossil record. Numerous fossil taxa have been described in the Mastotermitidae, as well as in the genus Mastotermes . The family seems to have had a worldwide distribution until just
224-489: A 10% increase in biodiversity, which was canceled out by a loss in low-income countries. This is despite the fact that high-income countries use five times the ecological resources of low-income countries, which was explained as a result of a process whereby wealthy nations are outsourcing resource depletion to poorer nations, which are suffering the greatest ecosystem losses. A 2017 study published in PLOS One found that
336-419: A brief amount of time, so they also rely on their legs. The appearance of the legs is similar in each caste, but the soldiers have larger and heavier legs. The structure of the legs is consistent with other insects: the parts of a leg include a coxa , trochanter , femur , tibia and the tarsus . The number of tibial spurs on an individual's leg varies. Some species of termite have an arolium, located between
448-447: A certain developmental path. Workers may also be fertile or sterile, however the term "worker" is normally reserved for the latter, having evolved in taxa that exhibit a bifurcated developmental pathway. As a result, sterile workers like in the family Termitidae are termed true workers and are the most derived, while those that are undifferentiated and fertile as in the wood-nesting Archotermopsidae are termed pseudergates , which are
560-501: A country, endangered species are initially supported on a national level then internationally. Ecotourism may be utilized to support the economy and encourages tourists to continue to visit and support species and ecosystems they visit, while they enjoy the available amenities provided. International biodiversity impacts global livelihood, food systems, and health. Problematic pollution, over consumption, and climate change can devastate international biodiversity. Nature-based solutions are
672-517: A critical tool for a global resolution. Many species are in danger of becoming extinct and need world leaders to be proactive with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework . Terrestrial biodiversity is thought to be up to 25 times greater than ocean biodiversity. Forests harbour most of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world's biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on
784-536: A cryptic life-history where they remain hidden within the galleries and tunnels of their nests for most of their lives. Termites' success as a group has led to them colonizing almost every global landmass, with the highest diversity occurring in the tropics where they are estimated to constitute 10% of the animal biomass , particularly in Africa which has the richest diversity with more than 1000 described species. They are important decomposers of decaying plant matter in
896-533: A delicacy in the diet of some human cultures such as the Makiritare in the Alto Orinoco province of Venezuela , where they are commonly used as a spice. They are also used in traditional medicinal treatments of various diseases and ailments, such as influenza, asthma, bronchitis, etc. Termites are most famous for being structural pests; however, the vast majority of termite species are innocuous, with
1008-472: A developmental process called incomplete metamorphosis , going through multiple gradual pre-adult molts that are highly developmentally plastic before becoming an adult. Unlike in other hemimetabolous insects, nymphs are more strictly defined in termites as immature young with visible wing buds, which often invariably go through a series of moults to become winged adults . Larvae , which are defined as early nymph instars with absent wing buds, exhibit
1120-426: A few million years ago, when all but the ancestors of the giant northern termite became extinct for unknown reasons. Genera included in the Mastotermitidae are: Termite Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial insects which consume a variety of decaying plant material , generally in the form of wood , leaf litter , and soil humus . They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and
1232-455: A first-order positive feedback (more ancestors, more descendants) and/or a negative feedback arising from resource limitation. Hyperbolic model implies a second-order positive feedback. Differences in the strength of the second-order feedback due to different intensities of interspecific competition might explain the faster rediversification of ammonoids in comparison to bivalves after the end-Permian extinction . The hyperbolic pattern of
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#17327728304741344-513: A fontanelle, which appears as a circular pore or series of pores in a depressed region within the middle of the head. The fontanelle connects to the frontal gland, a novel organ unique to Neoisopteran termites which evolved to excrete an array of defensive chemicals and secretions, and so is typically most developed in the soldier caste. Cellulose digestion in the family Termitidae has co-evolved with bacterial gut microbiota and many taxa have evolved additional symbiotic relationships such as with
1456-513: A lifelong monogamous pair. Also unlike ants, which undergo a complete metamorphosis , termites undergo an incomplete metamorphosis that proceeds through egg, nymph , and adult stages. Termite colonies are commonly described as superorganisms due to the collective behaviors of the individuals which form a self-governing entity: the colony itself. Their colonies range in size from a few hundred individuals to enormous societies with several million individuals. Most species are rarely seen, having
1568-460: A limit would also cap the number of species. While records of life in the sea show a logistic pattern of growth, life on land (insects, plants and tetrapods) shows an exponential rise in diversity. As one author states, "Tetrapods have not yet invaded 64 percent of potentially habitable modes and it could be that without human influence the ecological and taxonomic diversity of tetrapods would continue to increase exponentially until most or all of
1680-454: A pedicel (typically shorter than the scape), and the flagellum (all segments beyond the scape and pedicel). The mouth parts contain a maxillae , a labium, and a set of mandibles . The maxillae and labium have palps that help termites sense food and handling. The cuticle of most castes is soft and flexible due to a resulting lack of sclerotization, particularly of the abdomen which often appears translucent. Pigmentation and sclerotization of
1792-405: A report saying that "biodiversity is being destroyed at a rate unprecedented in human history". The report claims that 68% of the population of the examined species were destroyed in the years 1970 – 2016. Of 70,000 monitored species, around 48% are experiencing population declines from human activity (in 2023), whereas only 3% have increasing populations. Rates of decline in biodiversity in
1904-538: A separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus Cryptocercus . Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic . More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic , with
2016-404: A termite is in flight, its wings remain at a right angle, and when the termite is at rest, its wings remain parallel to the body. Due to termites being hemimetabolous insects , where the young go through multiple and gradual adultoid molts before becoming an adult, the advent of eusociality has significantly altered the developmental patterns of this group of insects of which, although similar,
2128-590: A third of the Earth's land mass) and are home to approximately 80% of the world's biodiversity. About 1 billion hectares are covered by primary forests. Over 700 million hectares of the world's woods are officially protected. The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use. Most forest habitats in temperate regions support relatively few animal and plant species and species that tend to have large geographical distributions, while
2240-466: A wide variety of predators. The queens can be particularly long-lived for insects, with some reportedly living as long as 30 or 50 years. In both the linear and bifurcated developmental pathways, the primary reproductives only develop from winged immatures (nymphs). These winged immatures are capable of regressively molting into a form known as brachypterous neotenics ( nymphoids ), which retain juvenile and adult characteristics. BN 's can be found in both
2352-587: Is also known as a termitary or termitarium (plural termitaria or termitariums ). The word was first used in English in 1781. Earlier attested designations were "wood ants" or "white ants", though these may never have been in wide use as termites do not exist in the British Isles . Termites were formerly placed in the order Isoptera. As early as 1934 suggestions were made that they were closely related to wood-eating cockroaches (genus Cryptocercus ,
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#17327728304742464-536: Is also predicted to expand the range of some pest termites. The infraorder name Isoptera is derived from the Greek words iso (equal) and ptera (winged), which refers to the nearly equal size of the fore and hind wings. "Termite" derives from the Latin and Late Latin word termes ("woodworm, white ant"), altered by the influence of Latin terere ("to rub, wear, erode") from the earlier word tarmes . A termite nest
2576-405: Is an increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics . Thus localities at lower latitudes have more species than localities at higher latitudes . This is often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Several ecological factors may contribute to the gradient, but the ultimate factor behind many of them is the greater mean temperature at the equator compared to that at
2688-665: Is believed to be from the Upper Cretaceous in West Texas , where the oldest known faecal pellets were also discovered. Claims that termites emerged earlier have faced controversy. For example, F. M. Weesner indicated that the Mastotermitidae termites may go back to the Late Permian , 251 million years ago, and fossil wings that have a close resemblance to the wings of Mastotermes of the Mastotermitidae,
2800-468: Is consistent with all four-winged insects. The mesothorax and metathorax have well-developed exoskeletal plates; the prothorax has smaller plates. Termites have a ten-segmented abdomen with two plates, the tergites and the sternites . The tenth abdominal segment has a pair of short cerci . There are ten tergites, of which nine are wide and one is elongated. The reproductive organs are similar to those in cockroaches but are more simplified. For example,
2912-559: Is divided into the following clade and family groups, showing the subfamilies in their respective classification: The Neoisoptera , literally meaning "newer termites" (in an evolutionary sense), are a recently coined clade that include families such as the Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae . Neoisopterans have a bifurcated caste development with true workers, and so notably lack pseudergates (except in some basal taxa such as Serritermitidae : see below ). All Neoisopterans have
3024-491: Is estimated at 5.0 x 10 and weighs 50 billion tonnes . In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as four trillion tons of carbon . In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms living on Earth. The age of Earth is about 4.54 billion years. The earliest undisputed evidence of life dates at least from 3.7 billion years ago, during
3136-494: Is found mainly in the derived taxa (i.e. Neoisoptera ), and is believed to have evolved in tandem with the sterile worker caste as species moved to foraging for food beyond their nests, as opposed to the nest also being the food (such as in obligate wood-dwellers). There are three main castes which are discussed below: Worker termites undertake the most labor within the colony, being responsible for foraging, food storage, and brood and nest maintenance. Workers are tasked with
3248-402: Is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than background extinction rates. and expected to still grow in the upcoming years. As of 2012, some studies suggest that 25% of all mammal species could be extinct in 20 years. In absolute terms, the planet has lost 58% of its biodiversity since 1970 according to a 2016 study by
3360-427: Is local biodiversity, which directly impacts daily life, affecting the availability of fresh water, food choices, and fuel sources for humans. Regional biodiversity includes habitats and ecosystems that synergizes and either overlaps or differs on a regional scale. National biodiversity within a country determines the ability for a country to thrive according to its habitats and ecosystems on a national scale. Also, within
3472-458: Is no concrete definition for biodiversity, as its definition continues to be defined. Other definitions include (in chronological order): According to estimates by Mora et al. (2011), there are approximately 8.7 million terrestrial species and 2.2 million oceanic species. The authors note that these estimates are strongest for eukaryotic organisms and likely represent the lower bound of prokaryote diversity. Other estimates include: Since
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3584-422: Is not homologous to that of the eusocial Hymenoptera . Unlike ants, bees, and wasps which undergo a complete metamorphosis and as a result only exhibit developmental plasticity at the immobile larval stage , the mobile adultoid instars of termites remain developmentally flexible throughout all life stages up to the final molt , which has uniquely allowed for the evolution of distinct yet flexible castes amongst
3696-401: Is possible to build fractal hyper volumes, whose fractal dimension rises to three moving towards the equator . A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species that have experienced great habitat loss . The term hotspot was introduced in 1988 by Norman Myers . While hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in
3808-561: Is so full, that that district produces the most variety which is the most examined." Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution . The origin of life has not been established by science, however, some evidence suggests that life may already have been well-established only a few hundred million years after the formation of the Earth . Until approximately 2.5 billion years ago, all life consisted of microorganisms – archaea , bacteria , and single-celled protozoans and protists . Biodiversity grew fast during
3920-479: Is the variability of life on Earth . It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability , species diversity , ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth . It is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator . Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's terrestrial area and contain about 50% of
4032-405: Is uncertainty as to how strongly the fossil record is biased by the greater availability and preservation of recent geologic sections. Some scientists believe that corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago, whereas others consider the fossil record reasonably reflective of the diversification of life. Estimates of
4144-521: The nymphal (winged) and apterous (wingless) lines. The bifurcation occurs early, either at the egg or the first two instars, and represents an irreversible and committed development to either the reproductive or non-reproductive lifestyles. As such, the apterous lineage consists mostly of wingless and truly altruistic sterile individuals (true workers, soldiers), whereas the nymphal lineage consists mainly of fertile individuals destined to become winged reproductives. The bifurcated developmental pathway
4256-477: The Archotermopsidae , which are able to retain high developmental plasticity even up to the late instars. In these basal taxa, the immatures are able to go through progressive ( nymph-to-imago ), regressive ( winged-to-wingless ) and stationary ( size increase, remains wingless ) molts, which typically indicates the developmental trajectory an individual follows. There is significant variation of
4368-513: The Carboniferous , rainforest collapse may have led to a great loss of plant and animal life. The Permian–Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. Human activities have led to an ongoing biodiversity loss and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity . This process is often referred to as Holocene extinction , or sixth mass extinction . For example, it
4480-792: The Eoarchean era after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean eon. There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia . Other early physical evidence of a biogenic substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland .. More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life " were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia . According to one of
4592-674: The Nasutes , which have a horn-like nozzle projection ( nasus ) on the head. These unique soldiers are able to spray noxious, sticky secretions containing diterpenes at their enemies. Nitrogen fixation plays an important role in Nasute nutrition. Soldiers are normally a committed sterile caste and so do not molt into anything else, but in certain basal taxa like the Archotermopsidae they are known to rarely molt into neotenic forms that develop functional sexual organs. In species with
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4704-713: The Phanerozoic (the last 540 million years), especially during the so-called Cambrian explosion —a period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. However, recent studies suggest that this diversification had started earlier, at least in the Ediacaran , and that it continued in the Ordovician . Over the next 400 million years or so, invertebrate diversity showed little overall trend and vertebrate diversity shows an overall exponential trend. This dramatic rise in diversity
4816-461: The Stone Age , species loss has accelerated above the average basal rate, driven by human activity. Estimates of species losses are at a rate 100–10,000 times as fast as is typical in the fossil record. Loss of biodiversity results in the loss of natural capital that supplies ecosystem goods and services . Species today are being wiped out at a rate 100 to 1,000 times higher than baseline, and
4928-403: The claws , which is present in species that climb on smooth surfaces but is absent in most termites. Unlike in ants, the hind-wings and fore-wings are of equal length. Most of the time, the alates are poor flyers; their technique is to launch themselves in the air and fly in a random direction. Studies show that in comparison to larger termites, smaller termites cannot fly long distances. When
5040-422: The eusocial termite Reticulitermes speratus are capable of a long lifespan without sacrificing fecundity . These long-lived queens have a significantly lower level of oxidative damage, including oxidative DNA damage , than workers, soldiers and nymphs. The lower levels of damage appear to be due to increased catalase , an enzyme that protects against oxidative stress . Biodiversity Biodiversity
5152-503: The intromittent organ is not present in male alates, and the sperm is either immotile or aflagellate. However, Mastotermitidae termites have multiflagellate sperm with limited motility . The genitals in females are also simplified. Unlike in other termites, Mastotermitidae females have an ovipositor , a feature strikingly similar to that in female cockroaches. The non-reproductive castes of termites are wingless and rely exclusively on their six legs for locomotion. The alates fly only for
5264-454: The subtropical and tropical regions of the world, and their recycling of wood and plant matter is of considerable ecological importance. Many species are ecosystem engineers capable of altering soil characteristics such as hydrology , decomposition, nutrient cycling , vegetative growth, and consequently surrounding biodiversity through the large mounds constructed by certain species. Termites have several impacts on humans. They are
5376-504: The tropics . Brazil 's Atlantic Forest is considered one such hotspot, containing roughly 20,000 plant species, 1,350 vertebrates and millions of insects, about half of which occur nowhere else. The island of Madagascar and India are also particularly notable. Colombia is characterized by high biodiversity, with the highest rate of species by area unit worldwide and it has the largest number of endemics (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) of any country. About 10% of
5488-417: The world population growth arises from a second-order positive feedback between the population size and the rate of technological growth. The hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by a feedback between diversity and community structure complexity. The similarity between the curves of biodiversity and human population probably comes from the fact that both are derived from
5600-542: The 2,972 extant termite species currently classified, 1,000 are found in Africa , where mounds are extremely abundant in certain regions. Approximately 1.1 million active termite mounds can be found in the northern Kruger National Park alone. In Asia , there are 435 species of termites, which are mainly distributed in China . Within China, termite species are restricted to mild tropical and subtropical habitats south of
5712-606: The IUCN's critically endangered . Numerous scientists and the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services assert that human population growth and overconsumption are the primary factors in this decline. However, other scientists have criticized this finding and say that loss of habitat caused by "the growth of commodities for export" is the main driver. Some studies have however pointed out that habitat destruction for
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#17327728304745824-686: The Paleozoic and Triassic insects tentatively classified as termites are in fact unrelated to termites and should be excluded from the Isoptera. Other studies suggest that the origin of termites is more recent, having diverged from Cryptocercus sometime during the Early Cretaceous . The primitive giant northern termite ( Mastotermes darwiniensis ) exhibits numerous cockroach-like characteristics that are not shared with other termites, such as laying its eggs in rafts and having anal lobes on
5936-582: The World Wildlife Fund. The Living Planet Report 2014 claims that "the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish across the globe is, on average, about half the size it was 40 years ago". Of that number, 39% accounts for the terrestrial wildlife gone, 39% for the marine wildlife gone and 76% for the freshwater wildlife gone. Biodiversity took the biggest hit in Latin America , plummeting 83 percent. High-income countries showed
6048-796: The Yangtze River. In Australia , all ecological groups of termites (dampwood, drywood, subterranean) are endemic to the country, with over 360 classified species. Because termites are highly social and abundant, they represent a disproportionate amount of the world's insect biomass . Termites and ants comprise about 1% of insect species, but represent more than 50% of insect biomass. Due to their soft cuticles, termites do not inhabit cool or cold habitats. There are three ecological groups of termites: dampwood, drywood and subterranean. Dampwood termites are found only in coniferous forests, and drywood termites are found in hardwood forests; subterranean termites live in widely diverse areas. One species in
6160-461: The available eco-space is filled." It also appears that the diversity continues to increase over time, especially after mass extinctions. On the other hand, changes through the Phanerozoic correlate much better with the hyperbolic model (widely used in population biology , demography and macrosociology , as well as fossil biodiversity) than with exponential and logistic models. The latter models imply that changes in diversity are guided by
6272-553: The biomass of insect life in Germany had declined by three-quarters in the last 25 years. Dave Goulson of Sussex University stated that their study suggested that humans "appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon. If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse." In 2020 the World Wildlife Foundation published
6384-458: The colony. Workers remain wingless and across many taxa become developmentally arrested, appearing to not change into any other caste until death. In some basal taxa, there is no distinction, with the "workers" (pseudergates) essentially being late instar larvae that retain the ability to change into all other castes. The development of larvae into adults can take months; the time period depends on food availability and nutrition, temperature, and
6496-540: The current sixth mass extinction match or exceed rates of loss in the five previous mass extinction events in the fossil record . Biodiversity loss is in fact "one of the most critical manifestations of the Anthropocene " (since around the 1950s); the continued decline of biodiversity constitutes "an unprecedented threat" to the continued existence of human civilization. The reduction is caused primarily by human impacts , particularly habitat destruction . Since
6608-431: The cuticle correlates with life history , with species that spend more time in the surface in the open tending to have a more sclerotized and pigmented exoskeleton. Consistent with all insects, the anatomy of the termite thorax consists of three segments: the prothorax , the mesothorax and the metathorax . Each segment contains a pair of legs . On alates, the wings are located at the mesothorax and metathorax, which
6720-439: The derived and basal termite taxa, and generally serve as supplementary reproductives. Termites are often compared with the social Hymenoptera (ants and various species of bees and wasps), but their differing evolutionary origins result in major differences in life cycle. In the eusocial Hymenoptera, the workers are exclusively female. Males (drones) are haploid and develop from unfertilised eggs, while females (both workers and
6832-533: The descendants of the genus Cryptocercus . Some researchers have suggested a more conservative measure of retaining the termites as the Termitoidae, an epifamily within the cockroach order, which preserves the classification of termites at family level and below. Termites have long been accepted to be closely related to cockroaches and mantids , and they are classified in the same superorder ( Dictyoptera ). The oldest unambiguous termite fossils date to
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#17327728304746944-496: The developmental patterns in termites even across closely related taxa, but can typically be generalized into the following two patterns: The first is the linear developmental pathway , where all immatures are capable of developing into winged adults ( Alates ), exhibit high phenotypic potency, and where there exists no true sterile caste other than the soldier. The second is the bifurcated developmental pathway , where immatures diverge into two distinct developmental lineages known as
7056-418: The digestion of cellulose in food and are thus the most likely caste to be found in infested wood. The process of worker termites feeding other nestmates is known as trophallaxis . Trophallaxis is an effective nutritional tactic to convert and recycle nitrogenous components. It frees the parents from feeding all but the first generation of offspring, allowing for the group to grow much larger and ensuring that
7168-544: The drywood group is the West Indian drywood termite ( Cryptotermes brevis ) , which is an invasive species in Australia. Termites are usually small, measuring between 4 and 15 millimetres ( 3 ⁄ 16 and 9 ⁄ 16 in) in length. The largest of all extant termites are the queens of the species Macrotermes bellicosus , measuring up to over 10 centimetres (4 in) in length. Another giant termite,
7280-625: The early Cretaceous , but given the diversity of Cretaceous termites and early fossil records showing mutualism between microorganisms and these insects, they possibly originated earlier in the Jurassic or Triassic. Possible evidence of a Jurassic origin is the assumption that the extinct mammaliaform Fruitafossor from Morrison Formation consumed termites, judging from its morphological similarity to modern termite-eating mammals. Morrison Formation also yields social insect nest fossils close to that of termites. The oldest termite nest discovered
7392-512: The end of the Maastrichtian , just before that extinction event. However, many other taxa were affected by this crisis, which affected even marine taxa, such as ammonites , which also became extinct around that time. The biodiversity of the past is called Paleobiodiversity. The fossil record suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in history . However, not all scientists support this view, since there
7504-481: The end of the last ice age partly resulted from overhunting. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes , species and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this definition is that it presents a unified view of the traditional types of biological variety previously identified: Biodiversity is most commonly used to replace the more clearly-defined and long-established terms, species diversity and species richness . However, there
7616-451: The estimated global value of ecosystem services (not captured in traditional markets) at an average of $ 33 trillion annually. With regards to provisioning services, greater species diversity has the following benefits: With regards to regulating services, greater species diversity has the following benefits: Greater species diversity Agricultural diversity can be divided into two categories: intraspecific diversity , which includes
7728-428: The expansion of agriculture and the overexploitation of wildlife are the more significant drivers of contemporary biodiversity loss, not climate change . Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies greatly across the globe as well as within regions and seasons. Among other factors, the diversity of all living things ( biota ) depends on temperature , precipitation , altitude , soils , geography and
7840-681: The extinct Gyatermes styriensis , flourished in Austria during the Miocene and had a wingspan of 76 millimetres (3 in) and a body length of 25 millimetres (1 in). Most worker and soldier termites are completely blind as they do not have a pair of eyes. However, some species, such as Hodotermes mossambicus , have compound eyes which they use for orientation and to distinguish sunlight from moonlight. The alates (winged males and females) have eyes along with lateral ocelli . Lateral ocelli, however, are not found in all termites, absent in
7952-409: The families Hodotermitidae , Termopsidae , and Archotermopsidae . Like other insects, termites have a small tongue-shaped labrum and a clypeus ; the clypeus is divided into a postclypeus and anteclypeus. Termite antennae have a number of functions such as the sensing of touch, taste, odours (including pheromones), heat and vibration. The three basic segments of a termite antenna include a scape ,
8064-412: The first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous . Similarly to ants and some bees and wasps from the separate order Hymenoptera , most termites have an analogous "worker" and "soldier" caste system consisting of mostly sterile individuals which are physically and behaviorally distinct. Unlike ants, most colonies begin from sexually mature individuals known as the "king" and "queen" that together form
8176-1011: The first fully sequenced termite genome, of Zootermopsis nevadensis , which was published in the journal Nature Communications , consists of roughly 500Mb, while two subsequently published genomes, Macrotermes natalensis and Cryptotermes secundus , are considerably larger at around 1.3Gb. External phylogeny showing relationship of termites with other insect groups: (Mantises) Blaberoidea Corydiodea Blattoidae Lamproblattidae Cryptocercidae (brown-hooded cockroaches) Isoptera (Termites) Internal phylogeny showing relationship of extant termite families: Mastotermitidae Stolotermitidae Hodotermopsidae Hodotermitidae Archotermopsidae Kalotermitidae Stylotermitidae Serritermitidae Rhinotermitidae Termitidae There are currently 3,173 living and fossil termite species recognised, classified in 12 families; reproductive and/or soldier castes are usually required for identification. The infraorder Isoptera
8288-557: The forehead that lead to a gland which exudes defensive secretions, are a feature of the clade Neoisoptera and are present in all extant taxa such as Rhinotermitidae. The majority of termite species have mandibulate soldiers which are easily identified by the disproportionately large sclerotized head and mandibles. Among certain termites, the soldier caste has evolved globular (phragmotic) heads to block their narrow tunnels such as seen in Cryptotermes . Amongst mandibulate soldiers,
8400-702: The fungus Termitomyces ; in contrast, basal Neoisopterans and all other Euisoptera have flagellates and prokaryotes in their hindguts. Extant families and subfamilies are organized as follows: Termites are found on all continents except Antarctica . The diversity of termite species is low in North America and Europe (10 species known in Europe and 50 in North America), but is high in South America , where over 400 species are known. Of
8512-491: The genetic variation within a single species, like the potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) that is composed of many different forms and types (e.g. in the U.S. they might compare russet potatoes with new potatoes or purple potatoes, all different, but all part of the same species, S. tuberosum ). The other category of agricultural diversity is called interspecific diversity and refers to the number and types of different species. Agricultural diversity can also be divided by whether it
8624-598: The highest developmental potentiality and are able to molt into Alates , Soldiers , Neotenics , or Workers . Workers are believed to have evolved from larvae, sharing many similarities to the extent that workers can be regarded as "larval", in that both lack wings, eyes, and functional reproductive organs while maintaining varying levels of developmental flexibility, although usually to a much lesser extent in workers. The main distinction being that while larvae are wholly dependent on other nestmates to survive, workers are independent and are able to feed themselves and contribute to
8736-639: The highest phenotypic potency and can be described as totipotent ( able to molt into all alternative phenotypes ), whereas following instars can be pluripotent ( able to molt into reproductives and non-reproductives but cannot molt into at least one phenotype ), to multipotent ( able to molt into either reproductive or non-reproductive phenotypes ), to unipotent ( able to molt into developmentally close phenotypes ), and then finally committed ( no longer able to change phenotype, functionally an adult.) In most termites, phenotypic potency decreases with every successive molt. Notable exceptions are basal taxa such as
8848-436: The immatures. As a result the caste system of termites consists mostly of neotenous or juvenile individuals that undertake the most labor in the colony, which is in contrast to the eusocial Hymenoptera where work is strictly undertaken by the adults. The developmental plasticity in termites can be described similarly to cell potency , where each molt offers a varying level of phenotypic potency. Early instars typically exhibit
8960-596: The interactions between other species. The study of the spatial distribution of organisms , species and ecosystems , is the science of biogeography . Diversity consistently measures higher in the tropics and in other localized regions such as the Cape Floristic Region and lower in polar regions generally. Rain forests that have had wet climates for a long time, such as Yasuní National Park in Ecuador , have particularly high biodiversity. There
9072-737: The interference of the hyperbolic trend with cyclical and stochastic dynamics. Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event , caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years. New species are regularly discovered (on average between 5–10,000 new species each year, most of them insects ) and many, though discovered, are not yet classified (estimates are that nearly 90% of all arthropods are not yet classified). Most of
9184-399: The king will continue to mate with the queen throughout their lives. In some species, the abdomen of the queen swells up dramatically to increase fecundity , a characteristic known as physogastrism . Depending on the species, the queen starts producing reproductive alates at a certain time of the year, and huge swarms emerge from the colony when nuptial flight begins. These swarms attract
9296-829: The level of developmental plasticity even between closely related taxa, with many species having true workers that can molt into the other apterous castes such as ergatoids (worker reproductive; apterous neotenics), soldiers, or the other worker castes. Pseudergates sensu stricto are individuals which arise from the linear developmental pathway that have regressively molted and lost their wing buds, and are regarded as totipotent immatures. They are capable of performing work but are overall less involved in labor and considered more cooperative than truly altruistic. Pseudergates sensu lato , otherwise known as false workers , are most represented in basal lineages ( Kalotermitidae , Archotermopsidae , Hodotermopsidae , Serritermitidae ) and closely resemble true workers in which they also perform most of
9408-439: The linear developmental pathway, soldiers develop from apterous immatures and constitute the only true sterile caste in these taxa. The primary reproductive caste of a colony consists of the fertile adult ( imago ) female and male individuals, colloquially known as the queen and king. The queen of the colony is responsible for egg production of the colony. Unlike in ants, the male and female reproductives form lifelong pairs where
9520-444: The mandibles have been adapted for a variety of defensive strategies: Biting/crushing ( Incisitermes ), slashing ( Cubitermes ), slashing/snapping ( Dentispicotermes ), symmetrical snapping ( Termes ), asymmetrical snapping ( Neocapritermes ), and piercing ( Armitermes ). In the more derived termite taxa, the soldier caste can be polymorphic and include minor and major forms. Other morphologically specialized soldiers includes
9632-877: The montane forests of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and lowland forests of Australia, coastal Brazil, the Caribbean islands, Central America and insular Southeast Asia have many species with small geographical distributions. Areas with dense human populations and intense agricultural land use, such as Europe , parts of Bangladesh, China, India and North America, are less intact in terms of their biodiversity. Northern Africa, southern Australia, coastal Brazil, Madagascar and South Africa, are also identified as areas with striking losses in biodiversity intactness. European forests in EU and non-EU nations comprise more than 30% of Europe's land mass (around 227 million hectares), representing an almost 10% growth since 1990. Generally, there
9744-412: The most basal. True workers are individuals which irreversibly develop from the apterous lineage and have completely forgo development into a winged adult. They display altruistic behaviors and either have terminal molts or exhibit a low level of phenotypical potency. True workers across different termite taxa ( Mastotermitidae , Hodotermitidae , Rhinotermitidae & Termitidae) can widely vary in
9856-601: The most primitive living termite, have been discovered in the Permian layers in Kansas. It is even possible that the first termites emerged during the Carboniferous . The folded wings of the fossil wood roach Pycnoblattina , arranged in a convex pattern between segments 1a and 2a, resemble those seen in Mastotermes , the only living insect with the same pattern. Kumar Krishna et al. , though, consider that all of
9968-461: The necessary gut symbionts are transferred from one generation to another. Workers are believed to have evolved from older wingless immatures ( Larvae ) that evolved cooperative behaviors; and indeed in some basal taxa the late instar larvae are known to undertake the role of workers without differentiating as a true separate caste. Workers can either be male or female, although in some species with polymorphic workers either sex may be restricted to
10080-505: The order Blattodea , which included the cockroaches. The cockroach genus Cryptocercus shares the strongest phylogenetical similarity with termites and is considered to be a sister-group to termites. Termites and Cryptocercus share similar morphological and social features: for example, most cockroaches do not exhibit social characteristics, but Cryptocercus takes care of its young and exhibits other social behaviour such as trophallaxis and allogrooming . Termites are thought to be
10192-468: The planet's species went extinct prior to the evolution of humans. Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described. However, a May 2016 scientific report estimates that 1 trillion species are currently on Earth, with only one-thousandth of one percent described. The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth
10304-546: The poles. Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles, some studies claim that this characteristic is unverified in aquatic ecosystems , especially in marine ecosystems . The latitudinal distribution of parasites does not appear to follow this rule. Also, in terrestrial ecosystems the soil bacterial diversity has been shown to be highest in temperate climatic zones, and has been attributed to carbon inputs and habitat connectivity. In 2016, an alternative hypothesis ("the fractal biodiversity")
10416-412: The present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 9 million, the vast majority arthropods . Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection. The existence of a global carrying capacity , limiting the amount of life that can live at once, is debated, as is the question of whether such
10528-415: The queen) are diploid and develop from fertilised eggs. In contrast, worker termites, which constitute the majority in a colony, are diploid individuals of both sexes and develop from fertilised eggs. Depending on species, male and female workers may have different roles in a termite colony. The life cycle of a termite begins with an egg , but is different from that of a bee or ant in that it goes through
10640-729: The rate of extinction has increased, many extant species may become extinct before they are described. Not surprisingly, in the animalia the most studied groups are birds and mammals , whereas fishes and arthropods are the least studied animals groups. During the last century, decreases in biodiversity have been increasingly observed. It was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Of these, about one eighth of known plant species are threatened with extinction . Estimates reach as high as 140,000 species per year (based on Species-area theory ). This figure indicates unsustainable ecological practices, because few species emerge each year. The rate of species loss
10752-584: The rate of extinctions is increasing. This process destroys the resilience and adaptability of life on Earth. In 2006, many species were formally classified as rare or endangered or threatened ; moreover, scientists have estimated that millions more species are at risk which have not been formally recognized. About 40 percent of the 40,177 species assessed using the IUCN Red List criteria are now listed as threatened with extinction —a total of 16,119. As of late 2022 9251 species were considered part of
10864-522: The regional numbers of economically significant species being: North America , 9; Australia , 16; Indian subcontinent , 26; tropical Africa , 24; Central America and the West Indies , 17. Of known pest species, 28 of the most invasive and structurally damaging belong to the genus Coptotermes . The distribution of most known pest species is expected to increase over time as a consequence of climate change . Increased urbanization and connectivity
10976-913: The researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth...then it could be common in the universe ." There have been many claims about biodiversity's effect on the ecosystem services , especially provisioning and regulating services . Some of those claims have been validated, some are incorrect and some lack enough evidence to draw definitive conclusions. Ecosystem services have been grouped in three types: Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily build ecosystems to support human needs; for example insect pollination cannot be mimicked, though there have been attempts to create artificial pollinators using unmanned aerial vehicles . The economic activity of pollination alone represented between $ 2.1–14.6 billion in 2003. Other sources have reported somewhat conflicting results and in 1997 Robert Costanza and his colleagues reported
11088-430: The size of the colony. Since larvae and nymphs are unable to feed themselves, workers must feed them, but workers also take part in the social life of the colony and have certain other tasks to accomplish such as foraging, building or maintaining the nest or tending to the queen. Pheromones regulate the caste system in termite colonies, preventing all but a very few of the termites from becoming fertile queens. Queens of
11200-476: The soft-bodied and often unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed " white ants "; however, they are not ants , to which they are only distantly related. About 2,972 extant species are currently described, 2,105 of which are members of the family Termitidae . Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera , or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae , within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches ). Termites were once classified in
11312-640: The species of the Earth can be found in Colombia, including over 1,900 species of bird, more than in Europe and North America combined, Colombia has 10% of the world's mammals species, 14% of the amphibian species and 18% of the bird species of the world. Madagascar dry deciduous forests and lowland rainforests possess a high ratio of endemism . Since the island separated from mainland Africa 66 million years ago, many species and ecosystems have evolved independently. Indonesia 's 17,000 islands cover 735,355 square miles (1,904,560 km ) and contain 10% of
11424-419: The terrestrial diversity is found in tropical forests and in general, the land has more species than the ocean; some 8.7 million species may exist on Earth, of which some 2.1 million live in the ocean. It is estimated that 5 to 50 billion species have existed on the planet. Assuming that there may be a maximum of about 50 million species currently alive, it stands to reason that greater than 99% of
11536-773: The way in which we interact with and use the world's forests. A new method used in 2011, put the total number of species on Earth at 8.7 million, of which 2.1 million were estimated to live in the ocean. However, this estimate seems to under-represent the diversity of microorganisms. Forests provide habitats for 80 percent of amphibian species , 75 percent of bird species and 68 percent of mammal species. About 60 percent of all vascular plants are found in tropical forests. Mangroves provide breeding grounds and nurseries for numerous species of fish and shellfish and help trap sediments that might otherwise adversely affect seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are habitats for many more marine species. Forests span around 4 billion acres (nearly
11648-447: The wings. It has been proposed that the Isoptera and Cryptocercidae be grouped in the clade " Xylophagodea ". Termites are sometimes called "white ants", but the only resemblance to the ants is due to their sociality which is due to convergent evolution with termites being the first social insects to evolve a caste system more than 100 million years ago. Termite genomes are generally relatively large compared to those of other insects;
11760-406: The woodroach) based on the similarity of their symbiotic gut flagellates. In the 1960s additional evidence supporting that hypothesis emerged when F. A. McKittrick noted similar morphological characteristics between some termites and Cryptocercus nymphs . In 2008 DNA analysis from 16S rRNA sequences supported the position of termites being nested within the evolutionary tree containing
11872-575: The work and are similarly altruistic, however differ in developing from the linear developmental pathway where they exist in a stationary molt; i.e they have halted development before the growth of wing buds, and are regarded as pluripotent immatures. The soldier caste is the most anatomically and behaviorally specialized, and their sole purpose is to defend the colony. Many soldiers have large heads with highly modified powerful jaws so enlarged that they cannot feed themselves. Instead, like juveniles, they are fed by workers. Fontanelles , simple holes in
11984-630: The world's flowering plants , 12% of mammals and 17% of reptiles , amphibians and birds —along with nearly 240 million people. Many regions of high biodiversity and/or endemism arise from specialized habitats which require unusual adaptations, for example, alpine environments in high mountains , or Northern European peat bogs . Accurately measuring differences in biodiversity can be difficult. Selection bias amongst researchers may contribute to biased empirical research for modern estimates of biodiversity. In 1768, Rev. Gilbert White succinctly observed of his Selborne, Hampshire "all nature
12096-652: The world's species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa. Since life began on Earth , six major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion . In this period, the majority of multicellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses. Those events have been classified as mass extinction events. In
12208-507: Was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Destroying habitats for farming is a key reason why biodiversity is decreasing today. Climate change also plays a role. This can be seen for example in the effects of climate change on biomes . This anthropogenic extinction may have started toward the end of the Pleistocene , as some studies suggest that the megafaunal extinction event that took place around
12320-483: Was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as mass extinction events. A significant loss occurred in anamniotic limbed vertebrates when rainforests collapsed in the Carboniferous , but amniotes seem to have been little affected by this event; their diversification slowed down later, around the Asselian / Sakmarian boundary, in the early Cisuralian (Early Permian ), about 293 Ma ago. The worst
12432-401: Was proposed to explain the biodiversity latitudinal gradient. In this study, the species pool size and the fractal nature of ecosystems were combined to clarify some general patterns of this gradient. This hypothesis considers temperature , moisture , and net primary production (NPP) as the main variables of an ecosystem niche and as the axis of the ecological hypervolume . In this way, it
12544-567: Was the Permian-Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago. Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event. The most recent major mass extinction event, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , occurred 66 million years ago. This period has attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs , which were represented by many lineages at
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