Table Of ContentProceedingsoftheHawaiianEntomologicalSociety(1998)33:13-18.
13
Coptotermes vastatorLight
(Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Guam
NAN-YAO SUandRUDOLFH. SCHEFFRAHN
Ft.LauderdaleResearchandEducationCenter,
UniversityofFlorida, Ft Lauderdale, Florida
ABSTRACT:Atermitesurveyconductedin11 locationsofcentralGuamyield
edsixtermitespecies;fourofwhich,CoptotermesvastatorLight, Cryptotermes
dudieyiBank,aMicrocerotermessp. andaNasutitermessp.,havenotbeenpre
viouslyreportedfromGuam.Coptotermesvastatorwascollectedfromsixstruc
tural infestations that werepreviously assumed to becaused by the Fonnosan
subterranean termite, Coptotermesformosanus Shiraki. No Cformosanus was
collected during this survey. Based on the results, we believe that C. vastator
importedfromthePhilippines,notCformosanus,hasbeenthehistoricalcause
ofmuchstructuraldamage inGuam.
The termites ofGuam were first treated by Light (1946) who listed three species
including Cryptotermes domesticus (Haviland), Neotermes connexus Snyder, and Pro-
rhinotermesinopinatusSilvestri.Later,Hromada(1970)reportedamassivecontroleffort
fortheFonnosansubterraneantermite,CoptotermesformosanusShiraki,atAndersenAir
Force Base in northern Guam. Apparently, the presence of C.formosanus was widely
accepted bymilitarypersonnel inGuam bytheearly 1970s. Lai (1977) cited apersonal
communication fromD.Yoshioka,aNavycivilengineer, thatCformosanuswasestab
lishedinGuam.Since then,ithasbeenassumedthatGuamisoneoftheexoticlocations
whereCformosanushas been introduced(Su&Tamashiro 1987).
In August 1993, central Guam was briefly surveyed for termites (Fig. 1). Special
attentionwasgiventostructuralinfestationsbelievedtobecausedbyCformosanus.This
paperreportsthefindings from thesurvey.
MATERIALSANDMETHODS
LivespecimensofCoptotermes sp. werecollected fromforaging tubes on building
foundations,doorframes andtelephonepoles(Table 1 andFig. 1, sites 1-4). Most sam
plesyieldedonlythesoldiercastebecauseworkersquicklyretreatedwhentubesweredis
turbed. Creosote-treated telephonepoles were typically filled with carton material that
extrudedfromcracksinthepoles.CoptotermesworkersandsoldierswerecollectedbyL.
Yudin (University of Guam) from foraging tubes on the wall of the newly-built Ento
mologyDepartmentbuildingoftheUniversityofGuam(site8).Desiccatedspecimensof
Coptotermes imagoes and soldiers were collected from a bathroom of a condominium
unitthathas been heavily infestedsince 1991 (site7) and where, accordingtoresidents,
imagoesswarmedinMay 1993.Termitescollectedfrom 11 sites(Table1 andFig. 1)were
preserved in 85%ethanol and transported to the Ft.LauderdaleResearchand Education
Center,UniversityofFlorida.ThreeCoptotermessoldierswereselectedfromeachofthe
fivecollectedsites(site 1-4,and8)andmeasuredusingazoomstereocompoundmicro
scope(Olympus,ModelSZH).Desiccatedspecimenscollectedfromsite7werenotmea
sured.
14 Prooeedings ofthe Hawaiian Entomologleal Sooiety Vol. 33:1998
(
GUAM
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j qp ii111.
' -«*/>-^Maite Airport
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0 . °Barrigada
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Fig. 1.LocationsincentralGuamfromwhichtermiteswerecollected.
Su & Seheffrahn: Ceptetonnos vastatorIn Guam 15
Ocellus
Antennal
spot
Compound
eye
Fontanelle
C. vastator
C. havilandi
C. formosanus
Fig. 2. Antennal spots of Coptolermes vastatorimagoes are distinctively "crescentic"
(top),whereasthoseofC.havtlandiaremoreorlesshalf-moonshaped(middle).Imagoes
ofC.formosanuslacksuchantennalspots(boltom).
16 Proceedings ofthe Hawaiian Entomologloal Soeloty Vol. 33i 1908
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Head and abdominal tergites ofCoptotermes imagoes from Guam are dark brown.
Ventralsurfaces oftheheads and abdomens are lightyellowish-brown.Thedark brown
dorsalandlightbrownventralcolorationisdistinctivelydifferentfromtheC.formosanus
imagowhichisentirelylightyellowishbrown.Thepresenceofdistinct,white,crescentic
"antenna! spots"oftheGuam Coptotermesimagoes implies that this species is Coptot
ermes vastatorLight originally described by Light (1929) from the nearby Philippines
(Fig.2).ImagoesofC.formosanuslacksuchantennalspots.
SoldiersofGuamCoptotermesaredistinguishablefromC.formosanusbythesingle
pairofsetaeprojectingdorsolaterallyfromthebaseofthe fontanelle.SoldiersofC.for-
mosanushavetwopairsofsuchsetae(Scheffrahnetal. 1990).MeasurementsofCoptot
ermes soldiers fromGuam fellwithin the overall range ofmorphomctriccharacteristics
ofC.vastatorsoldiersprovidedbyLight(1929)(Table2).SoldiersofGuamCoptotermes
have long tongue-shapedlabrumextending beyond themiddleofthemandibles; adiag
nosticcharacteristicforC. vastatoraccordingtoLight(1929).
Majorcharacteristicsofimagoes and soldiersofCoptotermes fromGuam matched
wellwiththoseofC.vastatorcollectedfromLosBanosLaguna,Philippines,byEF.San
chez(UniversityofthePhilippines; on loan fromM.Tamashiro, University ofHawaii).
Paratype specimens (National Museum ofNatural History) were apparently faded and
were smallerthan eitherourspecimens or those reported by Light (1929), butcuticular
characteristics such as asinglepairofsetae at the baseoffontanellewere similarto our
specimens.
ThereisastrongresemblancebetweenC. vastatorandCoptotermeshavilandiHolm
gren,althoughsoldiersofC.havilandiareslightlylargerthanthoseofC. vastator.Imago
bodiesofbothspecies aredarkbrowndorsallyand lightyellowish-brownon theventral
surfacesoftheheadsandabdomens.Soldiersofbothspecieshavethesinglepairofsetae
atthebaseofthefontanelle.Theonlyreliablecharacteristicthatdifferentiates thesetwo
species is the shape ofthe antennal spot in front ofeach ocellus. As shown in Fig. 2,
antennalspotsofC. vastatoraredistinctively"crescentic"(Light 1929),whereasthoseof
C. havitandiaremoreorlesshalf-moonshaped(Ahmad 1965).
ArborealnestsandforagingtubesofMicmcerotermessp.andNasutitermessp.(Ter-
mitidae)arecommonlyseenon treessuchas KoaHaole,Leucaenaglauca(L.),orBetel
nut,Arecacatechu(L.).inGuam(Table 1).BothMicrotermessp. andone Cryptotermes
sp.(possiblyCr. domesticus)werecollectedinOrdot(Table 1)fromatreebranchoutside
achurchbuildingthatwasheavilyinfestedbyC. vastator.Soldiersand workersofCryp
totermes dudleyiBank were collected from a wood panel of a building that was aban
donedbecauseofheavyinfestationbyC. vastator.Densecartonnests,foragingtubesand
damagedwoodwerefoundinthisabandonedbuildinginBarrigada(Table 1)withnosign
ofliveC. vastator.OnlydesiccatedheadsofC. vastatorsoldiers werefound.SignsofC.
vastatorinfestationswerefoundinmanytelephonepolesinBarrigadaarea(site 1).Asin
gle swarming imago ofProrhinotermes sp. (possibly P. inopinatus) was also collected
fromaroom in ahighrisehotel inTumon(Table 1). Cryptotermesdudleyi and thetwo
termitids(Microtermessp. andNasutitermessp.)havenotbeenreportedpreviouslyfrom
Guam.
DamagecausedbyC. vastatorissimilartothatofC.formosanus.Bothspeciesform
carton nests and foraging tubes, can cause serious damage to structures in a relatively
shorttime, and recruitmany soldiers when disturbed. Soldiers ofthese two species are
indistinguishable withouttheaid ofamicroscope. Because oftheirsimilarities, military
personnelinGuamduringthelate 1960s(includingthosefromHawai'iwhowere famil
iarwith C.formosanusinfestations)probablyconfused C. vastatorwith C.formosanus.
Su ft Sohaffrahni Coptotormos vastatorin Guam 17
Table 1.Termitecollectionsfromcentra]Guam.
Site Location Source Caste1 Identification
1 Banigada Telephonepole S C. vastator
2 Agana Doorframe
Buildingfoundation S C. vastator
3 Ordot Buildingfoundation S C. vastator
Tree(unknownsp.) I Micocerotermessp.
Tree(unknownsp.) W.I Cryptotermessp.
4 Maite Telephonepole s C. vastator
5 Banigada Woodpanel s.w Cr. dudteyi
6 Agana Tree(unknownsp.) S.W.I Microcerotermessp.
7 Tamuning Bathroom S.I C. vastator
8 Mangilao Buildingwall s.w C. vastator
9 Mongmong KoaHaoletree S.W.I Nasutitermessp.
10 Maite Betelnuttree s.w Nasutitermessp.
11 Tumon Building interior I Prorhinotermessp. (?)
1. I=imago,S=soldier,W=worker
Table2. Measurementsofsoldiers (n= 15)ofCoplotennessp.collected from5 sitesin
central Guam, and those of the original description of C. vastator reported by Light
(1929)from Philippine
Coptotermet
Measurement Mean±SE(mm) C. vastator(Light 1929)
Totallength 4.62±032 5.0-6.0mm
Lengthwithouthead 3.02±0.38 3.3-4.0
Head length
(withoutmandibles) 1.21 ±0.30 1.2
Headwidth 1.14±0.08 1.05-1.13
Pronotumlength 0.41 ±0.05 0.46
Pronotumwidth 0.77±0.12 0.8
Antennalength 1.49±0.09 1.5
Leftmandiblelength 0.84±0.06 0.82
Rightmandiblelength 0.85 ±0.04 0.76
Gulalength 0.84±0.05 0.74
Gulaminimumwidth 0.38 ±0.03 0.35
18 Proceedings ofth« Hawaiian Entomologioal Soolety Vol. 33:1998
Earlier reports (Hromada 1970, Lai 1977) on C.formosanus in Guam were typically
basedsolelyoninformationpassedonbymilitarypersonnelinGuam(C.Hromada,Ter-
minix, Memphis, TN; personal communication). Because our survey was conducted in
limitedlocationsincentralGuam,thereisapossibilitythatCformosanusmaystillexits
in northern or southern Guam. However, due to the close proximity ofGuam with the
Philippines,andheavytrafficofcivilianandmilitarygoodsbetweenthesetwolocations,
itismostlikely that C. vastatorimported from thePhilippines, notC.formosanus, has
beenthehistoricalcauseofmuchstructuraldamageinGuam.
Coptotermesformosanushasbeentransportedtomanylocationsworldwideandhas
caused serious problemin established areas (Su &Tamashiro 1987). Coptotermes havi-
landi is found in SoutheastAsia and the West Indies (Ahmad 1965, Scheffrahn et al.
1990). In addition to the Philippines and Guam, C. vastator was collected once from
Hawai'i(Weesner1965),butapparentlydidnotestablishthere.Continuedandexpanding
commerce will probably encourage the exotic introductions of these and other Copto
termessp.aspotentialpestsofstructuralwood.Becauseofthesimilarityintheirdamage
anddifficultyindifferentiationofsome Coptotermes sp., apositive identificationofter
mitepestspeciesshouldbedonebyacarefulexaminationofatleastthesoldierorimago
caste.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WethankL.Yudin(UniversityofGuam,Mangilao)andJ.Lopez(NoKaOiTermite
andPestControl,Agana,Guam) forassistanceintermitecollection, M.Tamashiro(Uni
versityofHawaii,Manoa) andM.Collins(SmithsonianInstitution,Washington, DC)for
loansoftermitespecimens, andR.Giblin-Davis(UniversityofFlorida, Gainesville)and
T.Center(USDA-ARS,Beltsville) forreviewing thismanuscript.This articleisFlorida
AgriculturalExperimentStationsJournalSeriesNo.R-03580.
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