ISSN:
1573-1561
Keywords:
Cuticular hydrocarbons
;
chemotaxonomy
;
Isoptera
;
tropical termites
;
gas chromatography
;
mass spectrometry
;
Virgin Islands
;
Caribbean termites
;
olefins
;
methylalkanes
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
Abstract A survey of the termites (Isoptera) of 17 islands of the British Virgin Island (BVI) complex yielded eight taxa belonging to three families. The Kalotermitidae include Neotermes mona (Banks), Cryptotermes brevis (Walker), Procryptotermes corniceps (Snyder), and an undetermined species of Incisitermes, likely Incisitermes nr snyderi (Light) or I. incisus (Silvestri). The only rhinotermitid collected is an undetermined species of Heterotermes (Froggatt). Parvitermes wolcotti (Snyder), Nasutitermes costalis (Holmgren), and N. acajutlae (Holmgren) comprise the Termitidae. Cuticular hydrocarbon mixtures were characterized for each of the taxa. Blends of abundant hydrocarbons are species-specific and can be used to identify a given taxon without the diagnostic castes, soldiers, or imagoes, although the species of Incisitermes were not separable on the basis of cuticular hydrocarbons.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006381.75185.86
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