Reticulitermes amamianus
Reticulitermes arenicola
Reticulitermes balkanensis
Reticulitermes banyulensis
Reticulitermes chinensis
Reticulitermes clypeatus
Reticulitermes flavipes
Reticulitermes grassei
Reticulitermes guangzhouensis
Reticulitermes hageni
Reticulitermes hesperus
Reticulitermes kanmonensis
Reticulitermes khaoyaiensis
Reticulitermes leptomandibularis
Reticulitermes lucifugus
Reticulitermes malletei
Reticulitermes miyatakei
Reticulitermes nelsonae
Reticulitermes okinawanus
Reticulitermes santonensis[1]
Reticulitermes speratus
Reticulitermes tibialis
Reticulitermes urbis
Reticulitermes virginicus
Reticulitermes yaeyamanus
Reticulitermes is a termite genus in the family Rhinotermitidae.[2] They are found in most temperate regions on Earth including much of Asia and the Middle East, Western Europe, and all of North America.
In two Reticulitermes species, R. virginicus and R. speratus, mother-son breeding systems have been found. This means their colony members are more related to their mothers than their fathers since 50% of their genotype comes from their mother and 50% from their father who also shares 50% of his genotype with their shared mother. This has shown to bias female alate production over males, likely because colony members favor caring for those who they are most related to (see Kin Selection).[4]
No Reticulitermes species have a true worker caste, meaning that individuals who are not reproductives or soldiers could theoretically become ergatoid reproductives due to the hemimetabolic nature of most termites.[3] Those who do not can either become soldiers or stay workers.[5] These individuals typically focus on brood care and general nest management.[6]
The soldier caste of most Reticulitermes defend the nest by either using their mandibles to attack invaders or by using their large heads to plug the entrances to their nests.[7][8] They are most well-known for their defensive abilities, though they are known to do many other tasks, such as aiding colony reproduction by accompanying alates and stimulating the production of supplementary reproductives.[9][10][11] Like other termite soldiers, they are unable to feed themselves due to their large mandibles.[12]
Many species of Reticulitermes have sex biases in their soldier castes with significantly more female soldiers than males. Some species, like R. virginicus, have next to no male soldiers at all. This is believed to be caused by the sexual dimorphism in termites in which females have a larger size potential than males and the fact that soldiers need to be able to plug entrances with their large heads. However, in R. flavipes, where there is no sexual dimorphism in the reproductive caste, there is also no sex bias in soldier production.[13]