Scheffrahn, R.H.

Su, N.Y.

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society (1998) 33:13-18.13Coptotermes vastator Light(Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in GuamNAN-YAO SU and RUDOLF H. SCHEFFRAHNFt. Lauderdale Research and Education Center,University of Florida, Ft Lauderdale, FloridaABSTRACT: Atermite survey conducted in 11 locations of central Guam yielded six termite species; four of which, Coptotermes vastator Light, Cryptotermesdudieyi Bank, a Microcerotermes sp. and a Nasutitermes sp., have not been previously reported from Guam. Coptotermes vastator was collected from six structural infestations that were previously assumed to be caused by the Fonnosansubterranean termite, Coptotermesformosanus Shiraki. No Cformosanus wascollected during this survey. Based on the results, we believe that C. vastatorimported from the Philippines, not Cformosanus, has been the historical causeof much structural damage in Guam.The termites of Guam were first treated by Light (1946) who listed three speciesincluding Cryptotermes domesticus (Haviland), Neotermes connexus Snyder, and Pro-rhinotermes inopinatus Silvestri. Later, Hromada (1970) reported a massive control effortfor the Fonnosan subterranean termite, Coptotermesformosanus Shiraki, at Andersen AirForce Base in northern Guam. Apparently, the presence of C. formosanus was widelyaccepted by military personnel in Guam by the early 1970s. Lai (1977) cited a personalcommunication from D. Yoshioka, a Navy civil engineer, that Cformosanus was established in Guam. Since then, it has been assumed that Guam is one of the exotic locationswhere Cformosanus has been introduced (Su & Tamashiro 1987).In August 1993, central Guam was briefly surveyed for termites (Fig. 1). Specialattention was given to structural infestations believed to be caused by Cformosanus. Thispaper reports the findings from the survey.MATERIALS AND METHODSLive specimens of Coptotermes sp. were collected from foraging tubes on buildingfoundations, door frames and telephone poles (Table 1 and Fig. 1, sites 1-4). Most samples yielded only the soldier caste because workers quickly retreated when tubes were disturbed. Creosote-treated telephone poles were typically filled with carton material thatextruded from cracks in the poles. Coptotermes workers and soldiers were collected by L.Yudin (University of Guam) from foraging tubes on the wall of the newly-built Entomology Department building of the University ofGuam (site 8). Desiccated specimens ofCoptotermes imagoes and soldiers were collected from a bathroom of a condominiumunit that has been heavily infested since 1991 (site 7) and where, according to residents,imagoes swarmed in May 1993. Termites collected from 11 sites (Table 1 and Fig. 1) werepreserved in 85% ethanol and transported to the Ft. Lauderdale Research and EducationCenter, University of Florida. Three Coptotermes soldiers were selected from each of thefive collected sites (site 1-4, and 8) and measured using a zoom stereo compound microscope (Olympus, Model SZH). Desiccated specimens collected from site 7 were not measured.14 Prooeedings of the Hawaiian Entomologleal Sooiety Vol. 33:1998NPhilippineSea' -«*/>Aganao(^/ °TumonA oTamuning Guam) g\ int'lj qp ii 111.-^Maite Airport0 © ©0 . °Barrigadao Mangilao /o Ordot W® Univ. of /Guam° /JGUAM/PacificOceanFig. 1. Locations in central Guam from which termites were collected.Su & Seheffrahn: Ceptetonnos vastator In Guam 15AntennalspotFontanelleOcellusCompoundeyeC. vastatorC. havilandiC. formosanusFig. 2. Antennal spots of Coptolermes vastator imagoes are distinctively "crescentic"(top), whereas those of C. havtlandi are more or less half-moon shaped (middle). Imagoesof C. formosanus lack such antennal spots (boltom).16 Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomologloal Soeloty Vol. 33i 1908RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONHead and abdominal tergites of Coptotermes imagoes from Guam are dark brown.Ventral surfaces of the heads and abdomens are light yellowish-brown. The dark browndorsal and light brown ventral coloration is distinctively different from the C.formosanusimago which is entirely light yellowish brown. The presence of distinct, white, crescentic"antenna! spots" of the Guam Coptotermes imagoes implies that this species is Coptotermes vastator Light originally described by Light (1929) from the nearby Philippines(Fig. 2). Imagoes of C.formosanus lack such antennal spots.Soldiers of Guam Coptotermes are distinguishable from C.formosanus by the singlepair of setae projecting dorsolaterally from the base of the fontanelle. Soldiers of C. for-mosanus have two pairs of such setae (Scheffrahn et al. 1990). Measurements of Coptotermes soldiers from Guam fell within the overall range of morphomctric characteristicsof C. vastator soldiers provided by Light (1929) (Table 2). Soldiers ofGuam Coptotermeshave long tongue-shaped labrum extending beyond the middle of the mandibles; a diagnostic characteristic for C. vastator according to Light (1929).Major characteristics of imagoes and soldiers of Coptotermes from Guam matchedwell with those of C. vastator collected from Los Banos Laguna, Philippines, by E F. Sanchez (University of the Philippines; on loan from M. Tamashiro, University of Hawaii).Paratype specimens (National Museum of Natural History) were apparently faded andwere smaller than either our specimens or those reported by Light (1929), but cuticularcharacteristics such as a single pair of setae at the base of fontanelle were similar to ourspecimens.There is a strong resemblance between C. vastator and Coptotermes havilandi Holmgren, although soldiers of C. havilandi are slightly larger than those of C. vastator. Imagobodies of both species are dark brown dorsally and light yellowish-brown on the ventralsurfaces of the heads and abdomens. Soldiers of both species have the single pair of setaeat the base of the fontanelle. The only reliable characteristic that differentiates these twospecies is the shape of the antennal spot in front of each ocellus. As shown in Fig. 2,antennal spots of C. vastator are distinctively "crescentic" (Light 1929), whereas those ofC. havitandi are more or less half-moon shaped (Ahmad 1965).Arboreal nests and foraging tubes of Micmcerotermes sp. and Nasutitermes sp. (Ter-mitidae) are commonly seen on trees such as Koa Haole, Leucaena glauca (L.), or Betelnut, Areca catechu (L.). in Guam (Table 1). Both Microtermes sp. and one Cryptotermessp. (possibly Cr. domesticus) were collected in Ordot (Table 1) from a tree branch outsidea church building that was heavily infested by C. vastator. Soldiers and workers of Cryptotermes dudleyi Bank were collected from a wood panel of a building that was abandoned because of heavy infestation by C. vastator. Dense carton nests, foraging tubes anddamaged wood were found in this abandoned building in Barrigada (Table 1) with no signof live C. vastator. Only desiccated heads of C. vastator soldiers were found. Signs of C.vastator infestations were found in many telephone poles in Barrigada area (site 1). A single swarming imago of Prorhinotermes sp. (possibly P. inopinatus) was also collectedfrom a room in a high rise hotel in Tumon (Table 1). Cryptotermes dudleyi and the twotermitids (Microtermes sp. and Nasutitermes sp.) have not been reported previously fromGuam.Damage caused by C. vastator is similar to that of C.formosanus. Both species formcarton nests and foraging tubes, can cause serious damage to structures in a relativelyshort time, and recruit many soldiers when disturbed. Soldiers of these two species areindistinguishable without the aid of a microscope. Because of their similarities, militarypersonnel in Guam during the late 1960s (including those from Hawai'i who were familiar with C. formosanus infestations) probably confused C. vastator with C. formosanus.Su ft Sohaffrahni Coptotormos vastator in GuamTable 1. Termite collections from centra] Guam.17Site12345678910111. ILocationBanigadaAganaOrdotMaiteBanigadaAganaTamuningMangilaoMongmongMaiteTumonSourceTelephone poleDoorframeBuilding foundationBuilding foundationTree (unknown sp.)Tree (unknown sp.)Telephone poleWood panelTree (unknown sp.)BathroomBuilding wallKoa Haole treeBetel nut treeBuilding interior= imago, S = soldier, W = workerCaste1SSSIW.Iss.wS.W.IS.Is.wS.W.Is.wIIdentificationC. vastatorC. vastatorC. vastatorMicocerotermes sp.Cryptotermes sp.C. vastatorCr. dudteyiMicrocerotermes sp.C. vastatorC. vastatorNasutitermes sp.Nasutitermes sp.Prorhinotermes sp. (?)Table 2. Measurements of soldiers (n = 15) of Coplotennes sp. collected from 5 sites incentral Guam, and those of the original description of C. vastator reported by Light(1929) from PhilippineMeasurementTotal lengthLength without headHead length(without mandibles)Head widthPronotum lengthPronotum widthAntenna lengthLeft mandible lengthRight mandible lengthGula lengthGula minimum widthCoptotermetMean ± SE (mm)4.62 ± 0323.02 ± 0.381.21 ± 0.301.14 ±0.080.41 ± 0.050.77 ±0.121.49 ±0.090.84 ± 0.060.85 ± 0.040.84 ±0.050.38 ± 0.03C. vastator (Light 1929)5.0-6.0 mm3.3-4.01.21.05-1.130.460.81.50.820.760.740.3518 Proceedings of th« Hawaiian Entomologioal Soolety Vol. 33:1998Earlier reports (Hromada 1970, Lai 1977) on C. formosanus in Guam were typicallybased solely on information passed on by military personnel in Guam (C. Hromada, Ter-minix, Memphis, TN; personal communication). Because our survey was conducted inlimited locations in central Guam, there is a possibility that Cformosanus may still exitsin northern or southern Guam. However, due to the close proximity of Guam with thePhilippines, and heavy traffic of civilian and military goods between these two locations,it is most likely that C. vastator imported from the Philippines, not C. formosanus, hasbeen the historical cause of much structural damage in Guam.Coptotermesformosanus has been transported to many locations worldwide and hascaused serious problem in established areas (Su & Tamashiro 1987). Coptotermes havi-landi is found in Southeast Asia and the West Indies (Ahmad 1965, Scheffrahn et al.1990). In addition to the Philippines and Guam, C. vastator was collected once fromHawai'i (Weesner 1965), but apparently did not establish there. Continued and expandingcommerce will probably encourage the exotic introductions of these and other Coptotermes sp. as potential pests of structural wood. Because of the similarity in their damageand difficulty in differentiation of some Coptotermes sp., a positive identification of termite pest species should be done by a careful examination of at least the soldier or imagocaste.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe thank L. Yudin (University of Guam, Mangilao) and J. Lopez (No Ka Oi Termiteand Pest Control, Agana, Guam) for assistance in termite collection, M. Tamashiro (University of Hawaii, Manoa) and M. Collins (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC) forloans of termite specimens, and R. Giblin-Davis (University of Florida, Gainesville) andT. Center (USDA-ARS, Beltsville) for reviewing this manuscript. This article is FloridaAgricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series No. R-03580.LITERATURE CITEDAhmad, M. 1965. Termites (Isoptera) of Thailand. Bull. American Museum ofNatural'History 131, 114 p.Hromada, C. J. 1970. Formosan termites on Guam. A massive control job for Terminix.Pest Control 38: 10-25.Lai, P.-Y. 1977. Biology and ecology of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus, and its susceptibility to the entomogenous fungi, Beauveriabassiana and Metarrhizium anisopliae. Ph.D. Diss. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu.Light, S. F. 1929. Notes on Philippine termites, III. The Philippine J. Sci. 40:421-52.. 1946. Insects of Guam. B. P. Bishop Museum Bulletin, 189: 9Scheffrahn, R. H- N.-Y. Su & B. Dlchl. 1990. Native, introduced, and structure-infesting termites of the Turks and Caicos Islands, B.W.I. Florida Entomol. 73: 622-27.Su, N.-Y. & M. Tamashiro. 1987. An overview of the Formosan subterranean termite inthe world, p. 3-15. In: Tamashiro, M. & N.-Y. Su (eds.), Biology and control oftheFormosan subterranean termite. College of Trop. Agr. Human Resources, Univ. ofHawai'i, Honolulu.Weesner, F. M. 1965. The termites ofthe United States. A handbook. The National PestControl Assoc, N.J. 67 p.

Coptotermes vastator Light (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Guam

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Coptotermes vastator Light (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Guam

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