Species Mastotermes darwiniensis Froggatt, 1897

Museums

Regional Maps

• Mastotermes darwiniensis Froggatt, W.W. 1897. Australian Termitidae. Part II. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 21: 510-552 pls xxxv-xxxvi [date on journal 1896, actual date of publication 31 May, 1897 Musgrave, A. 1932. Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775–1930 with Biographical Notes on Authors and Collectors. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales viii 380 pp. [103]] [519].

  Type data:

   Neotype ANIC No. 9033 ♀ alate, Darwin (as Port Darwin), NT.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Hill, G.F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region. Melbourne : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 479 pp. 24 pls. [21] (Hill, G.F. 1927. Termites from the Australian region. Part I. Mem. Natl Mus. Vict. 7: 5–120 pls i–ix [21] commented that 'Types appear not to have been selected by Froggatt, or, if selected, they have been lost'. Hill therefore designated 'a winged adult and a soldier as holoneotype and morphoneotype respectively' from 'material collected at Port Darwin and determined by Froggatt'. Watson, J.A.L. 1994. Mastotermes darwiniensis Froggatt, 1897 and Termes meridionalis Froggatt, 1898 (currently Amitermes meridionalis) (Insecta, Isoptera): proposed retention of neotypes following rediscovery of syntypes. Bull. Zool. Nomen. 51(1): 14–16, however, found a syntypic \fe alate of Mastotermes darwiniensis in NMV; neotype retained, see ICZN 1995. Opinion 1808. Mastotermes darwiniensis Froggatt, 1897 and Termes meridionalis Froggatt, 1898 (currently Amitermes meridionalis) (Insecta, Isoptera): neotypes retained following rediscovery of syntypes. Bull. Zool. Nomen. 52(2): 206–207).
• Termes errabundus Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Australian Termitidae. Part III. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 22: 721-758 pls xxxiv-xxxv [date on journal 1897, actual date of publication 4 June, 1898 Musgrave, A. 1932. Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775–1930 with Biographical Notes on Authors and Collectors. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales viii 380 pp. [103]] [733].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ANIC No. 9006 soldier, North Queensland, QLD.
  Paralectotype(s) ANIC soldiers, workers.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Watson, J.A.L., Miller, L.R. & Abbey, H.M. 1998. Isoptera. pp. 163-250 in Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Archaeognatha, Zygentoma, Blattodea, Isoptera, Mantodea, Dermaptera, Phasmatodea, Embioptera, Zoraptera. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 23 xiii 464 pp.

  Type locality references:

  Hill, G.F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region. Melbourne : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 479 pp. 24 pls. [21].

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Silvestri, F. 1909. Isoptera. 279-314 pls xvi-xxi in Michaelsen, W. & Hartmeyer, R. (eds). Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Jena : G. Fischer Vol. 2. [284]

 

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

N from Tropic of Capricorn, introduced to Papua New Guinea and Gebe Is., Indonesia.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gascoyne (GAS), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal, W plateau
  • Queensland: Lake Eyre basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Soil dweller, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

Social, nests subterranean, in tree trunks or timber, diet woody materials including living shrubs and trees, damages many other materials, major economic importance.

 

General References

Gay, F.J. & Calaby, J.H. 1970. Termites of the Australian Region. pp. 393-448 in Krishna, K. & Weesner, F.M. (eds). Biology of Termites. New York : Academic Press Vol. 2. [395-399] (biology, importance)

Hill, G.F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region. Melbourne : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 479 pp. 24 pls. [17-21] (biology, importance)

Watson, J.A.L. & Abbey, H.M. 1993. Atlas of Australian Termites. Melbourne & Canberra : Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 158 pp. [9] (distribution)

Watson, J.A.L. & Gay, F.J. 1991. Isoptera (Termites). pp. 330-347 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 1 2. [333-342] (biology)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		12-Feb-2010	(import)