Molecular and morphometrical characterization of Sicilian Reticulitermes termites (Blattodea, Termitoidae, Rhinotermitidae) with the description of a new subspecies

The subterranean termite Reticulitermes lucifugus (Rossi 1792) is distributed in Italy and southern France, both in natural and urban environments. It comprises three lineages: i) R. lucifugus lucifugus (Rossi 1792) in the mainland, ii) R. lucifugus corsicus Clement 1977 in Corsica, Provence, Sardinia and a portion of the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy, iii) a third lineage, not yet described, identified based on the genetic analysis of a few samples from Sicily and from an isolated population in northern Italy, where it was most probably introduced by man. In this study, we characterize genetically (COII and 16S mitochondrial genes) and morphometricall y (measurements of alates and soldiers) the Sicilian lineage, based on new samples collected all over the island. Our results confirm the existence of a well supported clade comprising all the samples from Sicily, neatly separated from R. lucifugus lucifugus and R. lucifugus corsicus. No other Reticulitermes species or subspecies was found in Sicily, and the Sicilian lineage was not found in peninsular Italy, suggesting that the strait separating Sicily from the mainland is an effective barrier to termite dispersal. Based on these results, we describe the Sicilian lineage of R. lucifugus as Reticulitermes lucifugus siculus ssp. nov. Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AECFCF35-156C-4169-8DAC-0B7F510E754D.