Discovery of a Cryptic Termite Genus, Stylotermes (Isoptera: Stylotermitidae), in Taiwan, With the Description of a New Species

The termite family Stylotermitidae consists of a single extant genus, Stylotermes, present only in eastern Asia. Stylotermes has distinctively trimerous tarsi and is considered an intermediate between the Rhinotermitidae and Kalotermitidae families. The present study reports the first discovery of the Stylotermitidae family in Taiwan. On the basis of a comparison between the Taiwanese samples and the original descriptions of all the other 44 Stylotermes species, a new species collected from eastern Taiwan is described as Stylotermes halumicus sp. nov. This study is the first to report the gene sequence and detailed morphological descriptions of the winged imago, soldier, and worker of a single Stylotermes sp. Furthermore, a preliminary review of the Stylotermes taxonomy is provided.