Abstract
Population structure and speciation in the eusocial but fully diploid Isoptera are not well understood. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction site variation was analyzed in the three species of the genus Zootermopsis. One colony of Zootermopsis nevadensis (Hagen) contained individuals with two different mtDNA haplotypes in approximately equal frequencies. This suggests the possibility of reproductive contribution to the colony from females of different parentage. Two recently named subspecies of Z. nevadensis have been suggested to be incipient species based on distinct cuticular hydrocarbon differences, allopatric distribution, and variation in ecology; however, the mtDNA data reported here cannot be used to confirm or reject this hypothesis. Individual colonies of these subspecies were not well resolved in phylogenetic analyses, but a Monte Carlo randomization procedure indicated they are differentiated with respect to haplotype frequencies. Considerable site variation exists among the three currently recognized species, and parsimony and distance analyses demonstrate they are distinct and monophyletic. These results provide further information on the relatively unknown areas of genetic structuie and speciation in termites.
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