A new termite species (Isoptera: Termitidae: Termitinae: Amitermes) and first record of a Subterranean Termite from the Coastal Desert of South America

International audienceAt about one hundred species, Amitermes, is the second largest genus after Microcerotermes in the subfamily Termitinae. This cosmopolitan genus is found in a wide variety of habitats from rainforests e.g., Amitermes excellens (Silvestri) from Guyana and Amitermes dentatus (Haviland) from Sumatra to deserts, e.g. Amitermes emersoni Light from Coachella, California and Amitermes desertorum Desneux from Egypt. Only eight species of Amitermes are known from the Neotropics and only five occur across mainland South America. Soldiers of Amitermes are characterized by a bulbous head capsule and sickle-shaped mandibles, each with a single tooth of various shapes on their inner margins. Soldiers of all species have a large cephalic gland opening to a circular fontanelle on the frons. When confronted by an agonist, the soldier emits a terpenoid secretion which oozes onto setae around and below the fontanelle. Herein, is described a new Amitermes from Peru and the first record of a subterranean termite along the Pacific coastal desert of South America