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Department of Biology
Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology
    Division BEE  >  Biodiversity & Ecology  >  Vol.7 >  Article 4.4b

Biodiversity & Ecology

Book chapter 4.4    Open Access 

Phylogeny of sand termites


Felicitas Gunter*, Joh R. Henschel, Mike D. Picker, Jens Oldeland & Norbert Jürgens

Article first published online: 15 December 2022

DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00364

*Corresponding author contact: felicitas-gunter@web.de

Biodiversity & Ecology  (Biodivers. Ecol.)

Volume 7, pages 51-54, November 2022
  PDF  (1.7 MB)

Keywords: Psammotermes, sand termite, COI, COII, Phylogeography, Fairy circle, Namib Desert

English

Abstract: The sand termite Psammotermes allocerus is widely distributed in southern Africa. To investigate the genetic diversity of this species 113 samples were collected in the arid regions of South Africa, Namibia and Angola in fairy circles and also in landscapes without fairy circles. The mitochondrial markers COI and COII were selected to perform Bayesian Inference analysis. The phylogenetic tree is composed of eight well-supported genetic groups within the species complex. In a synopsis with also studied morphological features the eight groups Northern Namib, Western Kalahari Basin, Nama, Southwestern Kalahari, East Gariep, Southern Namib, Tsau IIKhaeb and Succulent Karoo should be considered as distinct species. The species name P. allocerus should be used for termite collections of the Succulent Karoo due to their basal position in the phylogeny.

Suggested citation:
Gunter, F.*, Henschel, J.R., Picker, M.D., Oldeland, J., Jürgens, N. (2022): Phylogeny of sand termites. – Biodiversity & Ecology 7: 51-54. DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00364.