Bulletin of Entomological Research (2006) 96, 433-437

N. Lo, R.H. Eldridge and M. Lenz (2006)
Phylogeny of Australian Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) species inferred from mitochondrial COII sequences
Bulletin of Entomological Research 96 (4), 433-437
Abstract: Six Australian species of Coptotermes are traditionally recognized, but recent cuticular hydrocarbon studies suggest that some of these may represent more than one species. An understanding of the phylogenetic diversity of Australian Coptotermes, particularly the pest species, is likely to be important for the improvement of termite management strategies. A study of phylogenetic relationships among species of this genus was performed, based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COII) gene, comparing the data with recent data from Asian species. Representatives of the species C. lacteus (Froggatt), C. frenchi Hill and C. michaelseni Silvestri were each found to form closely related monophyletic groups, however representatives of C. acinaciformis (Froggatt) were not. For C. acinaciformis, representatives from northern mound-building populations were found to form a distinct group to southern, tree-nesting forms. Among southern C. acinaciformis, two Western Australian representatives were found to be divergent from other populations. The results suggest that C. acinaciformis probably represents a complex of species rather than one, as has been suggested previously. One unidentified Coptotermes sp. taxon from Melbourne was found to be divergent from other taxa. Notably, some Australian species were more closely related to Asian species than other Australian species.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Nathan Lo

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Coptotermes frenchi	Wood products	Australia (South+SE)
	Coptotermes acinaciformis		Australia (NT+QLD)
	Coptotermes acinaciformis		Australia (Western)
	Coptotermes acinaciformis	Wood products	Australia (South+SE)
	Coptotermes lacteus		Australia (South+SE)
	Coptotermes michaelseni	Wood products	Australia (Western)