Prorhinotermes simplex
{{Short description|Species of termite}}
{{Speciesbox
| image =
| image_caption =
| genus = Prorhinotermes
| species = simplex
| authority = (Hagen, 1858)
| synonyms =
}}
Prorhinotermes simplex, the Cuban subterranean termite, is a species of lower termite in the genus Prorhinotermes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.diark.org/diark/species_list/Prorhinotermes_simplex|title=diArk {{!}} species_list|last=diArk Team|website=www.diark.org|access-date=2019-06-19}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.irmng.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=10234335|title=IRMNG - Prorhinotermes simplex (Hagen, 1858)|website=www.irmng.org|access-date=2019-06-19}} It is found in Colombia.{{Cite web|url=https://eol.org/pages/403868|title=Prorhinotermes simplex (Hagen 1858) - Encyclopedia of Life|website=eol.org|access-date=2019-06-19}} Like others in its genus, it is a single-site nesting termite that moves to a new food source when theirs is gone, and it lacks a true worker caste.{{Cite book|last1=Rupf|first1=Thomas|last2=Pearcy|first2=Morgan|last3=Roisin|first3=Yves|date=2001|chapter=Foraging behaviour and nest moving in Prorhinotermes inopinatus (Rhinotermitidae), a termite without workers|language=en|pages=178|title=Proceedings of the 2001 Berlin Meeting of the European Sections of IUSSI}}
Caste
Like all other members of Prorhinotermes, P. simplex lacks a true worker caste (meaning permanently sterile workers) and has a linear ontogenetical pathway with a single nymphal instar.{{Cite web|url=https://atom.library.miami.edu/asu0226|title=The Problem of Castes and Caste Differentiation in Prorhinotermes Simplex (Hagen) [faculty publication]|last=Miller|first=Elwood Morton|date=April 1942|website=atom.library.miami.edu|series=Volume 15|access-date=2019-06-19}}{{Cite journal|last=Roisin|first=Yves|date=1988-03-01|title=Morphology, development and evolutionary significance of the working stages in the caste system of Prorhinotermes (Insecta, Isoptera)|journal=Zoomorphology|language=en|volume=107|issue=6|pages=339–347|doi=10.1007/BF00312217|s2cid=44692804|issn=1432-234X}}
Soldiers typically arise from the late larval stage in mature colonies and can be identified from their marked wing rudiments. Each of their two molts from larva to soldier adds an antenna segment, and they contain a lot of the chemicals (E)-1-nitropentadecene and (Z,E)-α-Farnesene.{{Cite journal|last1=Hanus|first1=R.|last2=Šobotník|first2=J.|last3=Valterová|first3=I.|last4=Lukáš|first4=J.|date=June 2006|title=The ontogeny of soldiers in Prorhinotermes simplex (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae)|journal=Insectes Sociaux|language=en|volume=53|issue=3|pages=249–257|doi=10.1007/s00040-006-0865-x|s2cid=46231683|issn=0020-1812}} They make up from 7-22% of each colony's population.{{Cite book|title=A Revision of the Nearctic Termites, with Notes on Biology and Geographic Distribution|last1=Banks|last2=Snyder|publisher=Washington, DC|year=1920|isbn=|location=|pages=}} They typically guard inside the nest, but they will come out as defenders if the nest is moved. Soldiers have been found to evacuate eggs when their nests are disturbed as well.{{Cite journal|last1=Hanus|first1=R.|last2=Šobotník|first2=J.|last3=Cizek|first3=L.|date=November 2005|title=Egg care by termite soldiers|journal=Insectes Sociaux|language=en|volume=52|issue=4|pages=357–359|doi=10.1007/s00040-005-0825-x|s2cid=8068307|issn=0020-1812}}
Microbiome
A type of excavate, named Cthulhu macrofasciculumque after the creature Cthulhu has been found in these termites' guts to allow for their digestion of wood, as termites and all other species in Animalia lack the ability to harvest nutrients from wood using their own anatomy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/science/la-xpm-2013-apr-05-la-sci-sn-cthulhu-microbes-termite-gut-20130405-story.html|title=A teeny tiny Cthulhu monster, found in a termite's gut - LA Times|last=Netburn|first=Deborah|website=Los Angeles Times |date=2019-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619030509/https://www.latimes.com/science/la-xpm-2013-apr-05-la-sci-sn-cthulhu-microbes-termite-gut-20130405-story.html|access-date=2019-06-19|archive-date=2019-06-19}}{{Cite journal|last1=James|first1=Erick R.|last2=Okamoto|first2=Noriko|last3=Burki|first3=Fabien|last4=Scheffrahn|first4=Rudolf H.|last5=Keeling|first5=Patrick J.|date=2013-03-18|editor-last=Badger|editor-first=Jonathan H.|title=Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque n. g., n. sp. and Cthylla Microfasciculumque n. g., n. sp., a Newly Identified Lineage of Parabasalian Termite Symbionts|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=e58509|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0058509|pmid=23526991|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3601090|bibcode=2013PLoSO...858509J|doi-access=free}}
References
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Category:Arthropods of Colombia
Category:Insects described in 1858
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