New species of termite Pericapritermes travancorensis sp . nov . ( Isoptera : Termitidae : Termitinae ) from India

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reported from the Ethiopian region by Snyder (1949) and Emerson (1955).The studies of Krishna (1968) transferred many species of the genus Capritermes with Pericapritermes, collected from Indo-Malayan region and New Guinea.Presently, Pericapritermes is known from the Oriental, Ethiopian, Palearctic, and Papuan regions (Thomas et al. 2008); Krishna et al. (2013) listed 40 species under the genus Pericapritermes.The oriental region contains 24 species in which six species are known from India (Table 3).
The soldiers of Pericapritermes are the most advanced in the Capritermes group in that their mandibles are robust and strong.The left is twisted and arched in the middle, with its apex blunt, and the right is flat, straight, and blade-like; in defence, they are locked together and released with a loud click, flipping the soldier several inches through the air (Thomas et al. 2008).The head is flat, the forehead is not steep, and the frontal gland is much reduced.The labrum of the soldier is straight at the anterior margin and with small anterio-lateral points.Imago has a large, oval fontanelle (Roonwal & Chhotani 1989).The apical tooth is shorter than the fused first plus second marginal tooth, the posterior margin of the fused first plus second marginal tooth is elongated and sinuate, and the third marginal tooth is prominent (Roonwal & Chhotani 1989).The members of this genus are soil feeders.Soil-feeding termites constitute 38.3% of Termitidae species, which dominate several subfamilies (Jones & Eggleton 2011).Pericapritermes build subterranean diffuse gallery systems that consist of clusters of small cells connected with tunnels, with the cells usually adjacent to underground hard materials.

Material and Methods
Specimens were collected from CMS College Campus, Kottayam District of Kerala State, southern India, which is situated between 9.596 0 N 76.520 0 E. The area is characterized by humid tropical climate with a mean annual rainfall around 3,600mm, and temperature ranging from 20-37 0 C. CMS College Campus contains 35 acres of protected land.The tropical climate of this region supports rich biodiversity.

Collection and Identification of Termites
All the termites encountered in the colony were collected using an aspirator and preserved in 80% alcohol.Measurements and photographs were taken using Labomed Luxeo 4D binocular microscope with attached camera and PixelPro software at magnification 8X-35X.Morphological terminology, measurements, and indices for describing soldiers, workers, and imago follow Roonwal &Chhotani (1989), andSands (1998).Important measurements and indices used in the study were total body length with wing, total body length without wing, length of head to lateral base of mandibles, maximum width of head with eye, maximum diameter of compound eye, maximum diameter of lateral ocellus, minimum eye-ocellus distance, maximum length of labrum, maximum width of labrum, length of left mandible, length of right mandible, maximum length of Pronotum, maximum width of Pronotum, minimum length of postmentum, maximum width of postmentum, minimum width of postmentum, minimum length of hindwing without scale, minimum length of forewing without scale, head width/head length index, and mandible length/head length index.The population study was done using direct count method.

Museum details
The holotype and paratypes are preserved in 80% alcohol and deposited in the Zoology Museum, Department of Zoology, CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

Diagnosis
Five species of Pericapritermes were known from India.Diagnostic characters of the soldiers from India with their distribution are given in the Table 4. Pericapritermes found in the Indian subcontinent classified as large, medium and smaller species.P. dunensis was the only species coming under the medium group (Roonwal & Chhotani, 1989) P. travancorensis sp.nov. is a medium sized termite showed affinity with P. dunensis.P. dunensis was described from Dehra Dun, India; and has later been reported from Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh West Bengal and Bhutan (Roonwal, M.L. & Sen-Sarma, 1960;Roonwal & Chhotani, 1989).Imago of P. dunensis have body length with wings 14.10-15.10mm, body length without wings 7.40-8.00mm and length to the base of mandibles 0.90-1.00mm.Whereas In P. travancorensis sp.nov.body length with wings 10.77-11.23,body length without wings 5.58 -6.45 mm and length to base of mandibles 0.78-0.82.P. travancorensis sp.nov.can be easily distinguished from P. Dunensis by larger soldier and mandible of the soldier.In this species right mandible is equal or slightly longer than left (Tables 1 & 3).The imago of the P. travancorensis sp.nov.smaller than the P. Dunensis, fontanelle large and sub-squarish.Moreover P. dunensis confined to the northeast of India.

Colony
The termite colony was found in porous laterite soil.The colony consists of clusters of small cells connected with tunnels, with the cells usually adjacent to small crevices of the laterite stones.The colony occupied an area of 3697cm 3 and was located between the depth of 3.6-9.6cm from the surface.The royal chamber is an enlarged cell with smooth, almost polished, and quite clean inner surface.It contains the royal pair and a number of soldiers and workers.Maximum number of workers and soldiers were observed below 3.6cm.Foraging workers were noticed 1.5m away from the colony.The numbers of individuals of different castes of the colony were as follows: king -1, queen -1, imago -5, workers -1265, soldiers -119, immature workers -1153, and immature soldiers -86.

Paratype: Imago
Head dark brown, postclypeus, labrum, antennae and legs brownish-yellow, pronotum dark brown paler anteriorly, abdomen dark brown above and yellowish below; head and body with a coat of fine short hairs and several long hairs; total body-length with wings 10.77-11.23 mm and without wings 5.58-6.45mm; headcapsule subcircular (length to base of mandibles 0.78-0.82mm, width with eyes 1.18-1.23 mm); fontanelle  2).

Etymology
The name travancorensis was taken from the name of the area from where the specimens were collected.The specimens were collected from the CMS College

Distribution
Pericapritermes travancorensis sp.nov. is currently known from the CMS College campus, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

Image 1. Pericapritermes travancorensis sp. nov. soldier © Jobin Mathew Table 1. Table showing the various measurements of CMSZMAI-101 holotype of P. travancorensis sp. nov. (in mm)
body length of queen 17.82 mm, abdomen whitish with yellowish tinge nearer to the sclerite Table