Taxonomy and distribution of termite fauna (Isoptera) in Riyadh Province, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with an updated list of termite species on the Arabian Peninsula

Mostafa R Sharaf; Mureed Husain; Khawaja Ghulam Rasool; Muhammad Tufail; Abdulrahman S Aldawood

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.07.055

Taxonomy and distribution of termite fauna (Isoptera) in Riyadh Province, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with an updated list of termite species on the Arabian Peninsula

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Dec;28(12):6795-6802. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.07.055. Epub 2021 Jul 24.

Authors

Mostafa R Sharaf¹, Mureed Husain¹, Khawaja Ghulam Rasool¹, Muhammad Tufail^{1

2}, Abdulrahman S Aldawood¹

Affiliations

¹ Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan.

Abstract

The present study shows an updated synoptic list of the 30 known Isoptera of the Arabian Peninsula which are classified under four families and nine genera. Twenty-seven species are hitherto known from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The present inventory of the termites of Riyadh Province (KSA) indicated three species, Anacanthotermes ochraceous (Burmeister 1839), Psammotermes hypostoma Desneux, 1902 and a rare species, Coptotermes heimi (Wasmann 1902). We present an illustrated key to species based on the soldier caste. Anacanthotermes ochraceous, and P. hypostoma are widely distributed Palearctic species whereas C. heimi seems rare and is a new record for KSA. Distribution maps for the three species are provided based on recently collected material and literature records and remarks on species habitat preference are given.

Keywords: Anacanthotermes ochraceous; Arabian Peninsula; Blattodea; Key; New record; Palearctic Region; Psammotermes hypostoma.