ENTOMOLOGY TODAY - Subterranean termites in the genus Reticulitermes are common pests in North America, responsible for significant damage to wooden structures. The scientific literature maintains that the western United States is home to two native species of termites: Reticulitermes hesperus in more coastal regions from British Columbia to Southern California, and Reticulitermes tibialis in more arid inland regions.
However, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, the U.S. Forest Service, and the University of California Cooperative Extension have found evidence of additional Reticulitermes species in the western U.S. Using a series of techniques including cuticular hydrocarbon profiles (CHC), behavior studies (including reproductive flight/swarm timing), and DNA sequencing, the researchers found that Reticulitermes hesperus is in fact one species in a complex of multiple reproductively isolated species and that as many as five species of Reticulitermes may exist in California alone. None of these species in California was identified as R. tibialis. The researchers report their findings in a new study published in October in the Journal of Economic Entomology.