''Prorhinotermes simplex'', the Cuban subterranean termite, is a species of lower

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

in the genus ''

Prorhinotermes ''Prorhinotermes'' is a genus of termites belonging to the subfamily Prorhinotermitinae, which is nested in the family Psammotermitidae. The species of this genus are found in Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equa ...

''. It is found in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Like others in its genus, it is a single-site nesting termite that moves to a new food source when theirs is gone, and it lacks a true worker caste.

Caste

Like all other members of ''Prorhinotermes'', ''P. simplex'' lacks a true worker caste (meaning permanently sterile workers) and has a linear

ontogenetic Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...

al pathway with a single nymphal

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

. Soldiers typically arise from the late larval stage in mature colonies and can be identified from their marked wing rudiments. Each of their two molts from larva to soldier adds an antenna segment, and they contain a lot of the chemicals (E)-1-nitropentadecene and (''Z'',''E'')-α-

Farnesene The term farnesene refers to a set of six closely related chemical compounds which all are sesquiterpenes. α-Farnesene and β-farnesene are isomers, differing by the location of one double bond. α-Farnesene is 3,7,11-trimethyl-1,3,6,10-dodecat ...

. They make up from 7-22% of each colony's population. They typically guard inside the nest, but they will come out as defenders if the nest is moved. Soldiers have been found to evacuate eggs when their nests are disturbed as well.

Microbiome

A type of excavate, named '' Cthulhu macrofasciculumque'' after the creature

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon ...

has been found in these termites' guts to allow for their digestion of wood, as termites and all other species in

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

ia lack the ability to harvest nutrients from wood using their own anatomy.

References

Arthropods of Colombia Termites Insects described in 1858 {{Termite-stub