Morphology, development and evolutionary significance of the working stages in the caste system of Prorhinotermes (Insecta, Isoptera)

Abstract

The existence of a worker caste in Prorhinotermes inopinatus was determined with the help of biometrical analyses and morphological observations. No dichotomy between alate and worker lines was detected among the young larval instars. Mandible sclerotization and wear show that the larvae become active by the fourth instar in mature colonies, and by the third in incipient ones. Prothoracic finger-shaped expansions characterize the most dependent larval instars. The antennal structure is the best feature for distinguishing late instars. The developmental schema is very flexible: the late larvae of stages 5 to 8 (at least) can give rise to wing-padded nymphs, to the next larval instar, to presoldiers, or most likely to neotenic reproductives as well; the wing-padded individuals (nymphs) normally moult direct to alates, but they can also undergo a regression of their wing pads and revert to worker-like individuals or differentiate into soldiers or neotenics. Slight variations in alate size and antennal morphology result from their origin in different larval instars. Whole-colony censuses revealed that the major part of the colony's work force is composed of pseudergates, i.e. late larvae that do not follow the most direct pathway to the alate. The pseudergates of Prohinotermes do not constitute a distinct worker caste irreversibly diverted from the alate developmental pathway. For this reason the caste system of Prorhinotermes is analogous to that of the Kalotermitidae and Termopsidae and much more primitive than those of the other Rhinotermitidae so far studied, Reticulitermes, Schedorhinotermes and Coptotermes.