Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak

The termite genus of Coptotermes from the family of Rhinotermitidae is an invasive pest in suburban and urban areas and commonly known as metropolitan pest. Previous studies and data indicated that the genus lacks robust diagnostic characters for morphological species identification and causes many...

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Main Authors: Norsyarizan, Jamil, Wan Nurainie, Wan Ismail
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/1/MORPHOLOGICAL%20VARIATION%20OF%20COPTOTERMES%20IN%20WESTERN%20SARAWAK%20%28abstrak%29.pdf
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author Norsyarizan, Jamil
Wan Nurainie, Wan Ismail
author_facet Norsyarizan, Jamil
Wan Nurainie, Wan Ismail
author_sort Norsyarizan, Jamil
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The termite genus of Coptotermes from the family of Rhinotermitidae is an invasive pest in suburban and urban areas and commonly known as metropolitan pest. Previous studies and data indicated that the genus lacks robust diagnostic characters for morphological species identification and causes many named Coptotermes species remain unclear. This has resulted in additional junior synonyms which involves a few species of the most destructive pest of wood. The morphology variation between internest and intranest of soldier also complicates the species identification. The purpose of the study was to assess the morphological variation of Coptotermes particularly in soldier caste at species level. A total of 123 soldier’s individuals from four selected species of this genus were appropriately measured and recorded, in which 17 morphometric measurements were used. The data were later subjected to unweighted pair-group method average (UPGMA) cluster analysis using Minitab version 16.1.1. The cluster analysis shows that the genus Coptotermes examined is divided into two major clusters where each species was distinctly separated. The morphometric variation for respective species was observed and presented in this paper. From this study, it is suggested that cluster analysis is reliable to assist in species identification among Coptotermes.
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spelling unimas-192032018-01-05T00:56:59Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/ Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak Norsyarizan, Jamil Wan Nurainie, Wan Ismail QL Zoology The termite genus of Coptotermes from the family of Rhinotermitidae is an invasive pest in suburban and urban areas and commonly known as metropolitan pest. Previous studies and data indicated that the genus lacks robust diagnostic characters for morphological species identification and causes many named Coptotermes species remain unclear. This has resulted in additional junior synonyms which involves a few species of the most destructive pest of wood. The morphology variation between internest and intranest of soldier also complicates the species identification. The purpose of the study was to assess the morphological variation of Coptotermes particularly in soldier caste at species level. A total of 123 soldier’s individuals from four selected species of this genus were appropriately measured and recorded, in which 17 morphometric measurements were used. The data were later subjected to unweighted pair-group method average (UPGMA) cluster analysis using Minitab version 16.1.1. The cluster analysis shows that the genus Coptotermes examined is divided into two major clusters where each species was distinctly separated. The morphometric variation for respective species was observed and presented in this paper. From this study, it is suggested that cluster analysis is reliable to assist in species identification among Coptotermes. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016-06 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/1/MORPHOLOGICAL%20VARIATION%20OF%20COPTOTERMES%20IN%20WESTERN%20SARAWAK%20%28abstrak%29.pdf Norsyarizan, Jamil and Wan Nurainie, Wan Ismail (2016) Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak. SERANGGA, 21 (1). pp. 1-38. ISSN 1394-5130 http://www.ukm.my/cis/index.php/en/2014-01-09-05-46-23/serangga/34-serangga
spellingShingle QL Zoology
Norsyarizan, Jamil
Wan Nurainie, Wan Ismail
Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak
title Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak
title_full Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak
title_fullStr Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak
title_full_unstemmed Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak
title_short Morphological variation of selected species of Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in western Sarawak
title_sort morphological variation of selected species of coptotermes (isoptera: rhinotermitidae) in western sarawak
topic QL Zoology
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19203/1/MORPHOLOGICAL%20VARIATION%20OF%20COPTOTERMES%20IN%20WESTERN%20SARAWAK%20%28abstrak%29.pdf