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Termopsidae vs. Hodotermitidae

I'm trying to make sense of these two termite families (please advise if this belongs in a different forum; I can't keep track of which taxonomy questions don't belong here). The genus Zootermopsis, according to Tree of Life, Borror & Delong, ITIS, the Kaufman guide, and this website, belongs in Termopsidae. According to Nomina Nearctica and BugGuide, it is in Hodotermitidae (this also seems to be supported by the Peterson guide, which doesn't mention the genus but lists Hodotermitidae and not Termopsidae). It does not appear to me that these families are synonyms; the majority opinion seems to be that the Termopsidae are the dampwood/rottenwood termites and the Hodotermitidae are the harvester termites, not found in North America. Anyone have any insights to add?
Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 18 March, 2009 - 11:27pm

Termopsidae
Zootermopsis termites were my first research organisms- I am still very fond of them. They belong to the Termopsidae. A recent paper by Barbara Thorne at the University of Maryland describes some of the differences in biology between Termopsidae vs. Hodotermitidae in the context of explaining how sociality developed within the termites- one of the big questions in the area of social biology. The experiments in this article use Zootermopsis termites.
… John Carlson, 23 March, 2009 - 11:21am

 
help plz
Hey you dnt know me but i got bit by a bug and i have no idea what it is just hitting a couple ppl up tryna git some help on identifying it....to see the pic click on my account thanks a lot!!!!!
… datdudesce, 8 July, 2009 - 8:56pm

 
Beetle bite?
I am insterested in unusual bites from insect species that don't normally bite people, like this beetle. If you have any pictures and could send me a description of what happened to venom@tulane.edu, I'd like to hear what happened.
… John Carlson, 8 July, 2009 - 9:56pm

 
Thanks John
I just changed the family name and added a note on the guide page. Was Termopsidae ever considered to be part of Hodotermitidae?
… Charley Eiseman, 23 March, 2009 - 2:57pm

 
Termopsidae from Hodotermitidae
Sorry Charley, I forgot about this question from when you originally posted it. Grasse (1986) split out 3 the 5 sub-families then comprising the Hodotermitidae into Termopsidae, with the other 2 sub-families retained in the Hodotermitidae.
… John Carlson, 8 July, 2009 - 10:08pm

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