KEYS TO THE GENERA OF ETHIOPIAN TERMITES

Abstract

T e r m i t e s ar e s o c i a l i n s e c t s t h a t are f o u n d t h r o u g h o u t the t r o p i c s a n d s u b t r o p i c s . So far, 61 s p e c i e s b e l o n g i n g to 25 g e n e r a a n d 4 f a m i l i e s h a v e b e e n r e c o r d e d in E t h i o p i a (Cowie et a l . , 1990). H o w e v e r , o n l y v e r y few of t h e s e a re r e g a r d e d as p e s t s of a g r i c u l t u r a l crops, f o r e s t r y , r a n g e l a n d s or w o o d e n s t r u c t u r e s s u c h as houses, g r a i n s t o r e s an d fences. T h e r e s t a r e h a r m l e s s e i t h e r f e e d i n g on d e a d p l a n t m a t e r i a l s , soil o r g a n i c m a t t e r o r h e r b i v o r e dung. T h e r e f o r e , b e f o r e any t e r m i t e c o n t r o l m e a s u r e is u n d e r t a k e n , it is i m p o r t a n t t o d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r a s p e c i e s of t e r m i t e is a p e s t or not. Th e m e r e p r e s e n c e o f t e r m i t e s d o e s n o t j u s t i f y c o n t r o l m e a s u r e s . T h e n e x t i m p o r t a n t s t e p is c o r r e c t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of the t e r m i t e p e s t to s e l e c t a p p r o p r i a t e c o n t r o l m e a s u r e s . W i t h o u t s u c h v i t a l i n f o r m a t i o n an y c o n t r o l m e a s u r e u n d e r t a k e n w o u l d be u n j u s t i f i e d . T e r m i t e i d e n t i f i a c t i o n is g e n e r a l l y b a s e d o n the a l a t e s ( w i n g e d - f o r m ) o r s o l d i e r c h a r a c t e r s . A l a t e s are f o u n d o n l y at c e r t a i n t i m e s of the y e a r d u r i n g swar m i n g . As a r e s u l t t h e y are n o t w i d e l y used, b u t s o l d i e r c a s t e s w h i c h a re f o u n d t h r o u g h o u t the y e a r a r e m o r e c o m m o n l y u s e d in t e r m i t e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . T h i s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n k ey is, t h e r e f o r e , b a s e d on s o l d i e r c h a r a c t e r s a n d th e m a j o r m o r p h o l o g i c a l c h a r a c t e r s u s e d in the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of s o l d i e r s are s h o w n in F i g u r e 1. For i d e n t i f i c a t i o n p u r p o s e s , 10 - 15 s p e c i m e n s p r e f e r r a b l y m a j o r s o l d i e r s , for the s p e c i e s t h a t h a v e tw o t y p e s of s o l d i e r s , n e e d to be c o l l e c t e d an d p r e s e r v e d in 80 % a l c o h o l . The s p e c i m e n s a r e f i r s t i d e n t i f i e d to the f a m i l y l e v e l u s i n g the f a m i l y ke y p r o v i d e d a n d t h e n to the g e n u s level. I d e n t i f i c a t i o n ke y for s p e c i e s is n o t i n c l u d e d s i n c e it is v e r y d i f f i c u l t and for m a n y g e n e r a has n o t b e e n w o r k e d out. S i m i l a r l y , k e y s for th e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of s o l d i e r l e s s t e r m i t e s ar e n o t a l s o i n c l u d e d s i n c e t h i s a l s o r e q u i r e s s p e c i a l e q u i p m e n t an d e x p e r t i s e for the d i s s e c t i o n of d i g e s t i v e tubes. M o r e o v e r , the s o l d i e r l e s s t e r m i t e s a r e n o t p e s t s s i n c e t h e y feed e n t i r e l y on soil o r g a n i c m a t t e r . T h i s ke y is p r i m a r i l y p r e p a r e d to a s s i s t p l a n t h e a l t h c l i n i c s t a f f of the M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e in the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t e r m i t e s of a g r i c u l t u r a l i m p o r t a n c e in t h e i r r e g i o n s . T h e k ey c o u l d a l s o be u s e d by a n y o n e i n t e r e s t e d in the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of E t h i o p i a n t e r m i t e s . T he i l l u s t r a t i o n s i n c l u d e d in t h i s key are r e p r o d u c e d f r o m W e b b (1961), B o u i l l o n a n d M a t h o t (1965) and N a t u r a l R e s o u r c e s I n s t i t u t e (NRI) u n p u b l i s h e d t r a i n i n g m a t e r i a l s as a s u p p l e m e n t to the dichotornous key. If, however, s a m p l e s c a n n o t be i d e n t i f i e d u s i n g th e key p r o v i d e d or c o n f i r m a t i o n is needed, they c a n be s e n d to S h o l a C r o p P r o t e c t i o n L a b o r a t o r y of the M i n i s t r y of Agriculture.