Mitochondrial DNA analysis of native European Isoptera: a comparison between Reticulitermes (Rhinotermitidae) and Kalotermes (Kalotermitidae) colonies from Italy and Balkans.

Two termite genera are native of Europe: Reticulitermes and Kalotermes. The former is represented by nine taxa (either species or subspecies), distributed in the three Mediterranean peninsulas and Middle East. The latter is found across the European area only with the species K. flavicollis, but the presence of geographical races has been proposed on the basis of biological and morphometrical traits. Present mitochondrial DNA analysis evidences a high degree of biodiversity for Reticulitermes samples in the Balkanic area, with at least five distinct taxa: Reticulitermes sp., R. balkanensis, the Turkish entity (formerly indicated as R. lucifugus) and two new taxa found in Greek islands. On the contrary, a low level of differentiation emerges when analysing Kalotermes colonies: sequence variability ranges from one to six nucleotide substitutions, with the estimated ancestral haplotype spanning from Sicily to Slovenia and Greece. These different levels of genetic variability could be explained on the basis of the different biology and evolutionary history of the two genera.