Phylogeography of Nasutitermes ephratae (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) in neotropical region

Abstract

The neotropical region ranks third in the number of termites and includes five different families. Of these, Termitidae is the most diverse and includes the species Nasutitermes ephratae, which is widespread in the neotropics. To date, only one study has been published about phylogeography in neotropical termites (N. corniger). Here, we explored the population genetic patterns of N. ephratae and also evaluated the phylogeographical processes involved in the evolutionary history of the species. We used the mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA and COII as molecular markers: these were sequenced for 128 samples of N. ephratae. We estimated the genetic diversity and divergence time as well as the demography and genetic structure. We also performed an ancestral area reconstruction and a haplotype network. The results showed high genetic variability, recent demographic expansion, and strong genetic structure. A dispersal route for the species, that occurred in both directions between South and Central America, was inferred. The results emphasize a temporary separation between the South and Central America populations that affected the origin of the current Central America populations. These populations were formed from different phylogeographic histories.

Figure 1

Soldier of N. ephratae.

Figure 2

(a) Collection locations of the N. ephratae samples. The colors of the points are corresponding to the haplogroups; (b) Haplotype network generated using the concatenated sequences (16S + COII) of the N. ephratae samples. The white dots on the branches are indicating the mutational steps between the related haplotypes. The map (a) was generated by AFS using the software QGis v. 3.6.3 (http://qgis.org).

Figure 3

(a) Results of the analysis of clustering (rhierBAPS) performed with the concatenated sequences; (b) Pie charts generated from the frequency of the dominions in each cluster recovered by rhierBAPS;

Figure 4

Bayesian inference tree generated using the haplotypes of N. ephratae, associated to the results of the ancestral area reconstruction. The numbers near to the nodes correspond to the estimated divergence times in million of years (My). The “N” inside the PAC circles (close to the taxa names) are indicating that the respective haplotype was observed in the northern portion of PAC dominion, located in Central America; PAC circles without the “N” are indicating the haplotypes from southern portion of PAC dominion, located in South America. The posterior probabilities and the 95% HPD intervals for this BI are showed in Supplementary Fig. S2. The map was generated by AFS using the software QGis v. 3.6.3 (http://qgis.org).

Figure 5

Dispersal route inferred for N. ephratae based on the results obtained in the ancestral area reconstruction. The arrows are indicating the direction of the dispersion. *Reconnection between the N. ephratae populations of South and Central America. The map was generated by AFS using the software QGis v. 3.6.3 (http://qgis.org).