New data on Reticulitermes urbis and Reticulitermes lucifugus in Italy: are they both native species?

In Italy, three species of subterranean termites in the genus Reticulitermes exist: the native R. lucifugus (Rossi), the North- American R. flavipes (Kollar), and R. urbis Bagneres, Uva et Clement. R. urbis is a recently described species, that is suspected to have been introduced from the Balkans to France and Italy, where until the present study it had been found only in a few urban areas. The distribution of R. urbis in Italy is still poorly understood. We collected 22 Reticulitermes samples in 17 Italian localities in order to define better the distributions of R. urbis and R. lucifugus and to determine whether R. urbis can be found also in natural environments. We identified termite species by sequencing a portion of the mitochondrial gene encoding for the cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII), that we also used for the construction of haplotype networks and for phylogenetic analysis. We found R. urbis in three urban areas in the north, and in seven natural areas in the south. So, in Italy, R. urbis is more diffused than previously thought. The same pattern of distribution, restricted to urban areas in the north and including also natural environments in the south, is seen in the native R. lucifugus, and may be explained by the climatic requirements of these species. The lower genetic variability of R. urbis observed in Italy and France, compared with the Balkans, may be explained without implying an introduction by man. Moreover, many insect species exist with a range similar to that of R. urbis. For these reasons, we think that R. urbis could be native in Italy.