Survey and Identification of Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Indiana

In total, 289 termite samples were collected from 45 counties in Indiana during 2002Ð 2004. Approximately 89% of the collection sites were associated with artiÞcial structures, and almost half of the samples were from inside homes. The rest of the samples were from forested areas. Termite samples were identiÞed based on their morphological characteristics, molecular characteristics, or both. Five species from the genus Reticulitermes were identiÞed, and the relative abundance (percentage of the total collections) of these Þve species was Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) (90.0), Reticulitermes virginicus (Banks) (7.6), Reticulitermes arenincola (Goellner) (1.0), Reticulitermes tibialis (Banks) (1.0), andReticulitermes hageniBanks (0.3). Based on the distributionmap,R. flavipes was the dominant and the most widely distributed species in Indiana (44 counties); followed by R. virginicus (13 counties). The three otherReticulitermes species,R. arenincola,R. tibialis, andR. hageni, were encountered in only Þve counties. R. arenincola is considered a rare species and its distribution has been limited to sand dunes near Lake Michigan. However, in this study, two of the three R. arenincola samples were collected outside of its type location. R. tibialiswas found in three counties, whereasR. hageniwas only found in Evansville, IN. To complement themorphological identiÞcations, a 389-bp region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 16S rRNA gene was ampliÞed and sequenced from all Þve Reticulitermes species. Based on species-speciÞc polymorphisms exhibited in mtDNA sequences, a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphismÐbased diagnostic tool was developed to identify samples lacking of diagnostic morphological characters.