Hodotermopsid termites from the mid-Cretaceous Hkamti and Kachin ambers (Isoptera: Hodotermopsidae)

Abstract

The past diversity of Isoptera stands in stark contrast to their extant diversity as the number of fossil termite species is relatively low. Many early-diverging families are unknown from the Cretaceous, a crucial period encompassing the origins of many extant lineages. Therefore, the study of their past diversity dynamics, leading to their present-day diversity, and origin remains shrouded by a dearth of fossil evidence. Here, we report two new taxa of Hodotermopsidae from the Albian Hkamti and mid-Cretaceous Kachin ambers: Hodotermopsella novella gen. et sp. nov. and Tyrannotermes spinifer gen. et sp. nov., the former placed in a new subfamily, Hodotermopsellinae subfam. nov. These new species include the earliest occurrences of Hodotermopsidae in the fossil record. We propose new synonymizations for Cretaceous genera from China Jitermes Ren (= Huaxiatermes Ren and Asiatermes Ren, both syn. nov.) and Meiatermes Lacasa Ruiz & Martínez-Delclòs (= Caatingatermes Martins-Neto, Ribeiro-Júnior & Prezoto, Araripetermes Martins-Neto, Ribeiro-Júnior & Prezoto, Nordestinatermes Martins-Neto, Ribeiro-Júnior & Prezoto, all syn. nov.), and revise the status of the Carinatermitidae stat. nov. We discuss the systematic placement of the Pabuonqedidae as well as the implications of the new hodotermopsids on future divergence-time estimates for Teletisoptera and Isoptera.