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This study is aimed to know the termite community of the Kurukshetra through sampling by the random hand-picking method, and identified with the keys given by Roonwal and Chhotani, (1989) and Chhotani (1997). A total of 11 species belonging to two families (Termitidae and Rhinotermitidae), two subfamilies (Macrotermitinae and Coptotermitinae) and three genera (Odontotermes, Microtermes and Coptotermes) were observed. Out of these two species are new records from Kurukshetra i.e. Coptotermes kishori and Odontotermes profeae. Termitidae is the most diverse of the two families, and the study reveals the presence of total of 19 species under five genera, four subfamilies and two families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Termites are highly abundant and vital insects that directly and indirectly influence local soils. The present study investigated the morphological and molecular phylogenetics of termite species collected from study fields in southern Haryana, India, from 2020 to 2021. Samples were subjected to integrated systematic analyses, taking into account the mandible features of soldiers for morphological systematics and 16S rRNA gene-based phylogeny for molecular systematics. Based on the external phenotype and relations to reference sequences in NCBI GenBank, 21 species were identified; these included five species each from Odontotermes and Microcerotermes, four species from Coptotermes, two species each from Microtermes and Eremotermes, and one species each from Amitermes, Angulitermes, and Neotermes. 16S rRNA gene sequences were utilized to construct phylogenetic trees to explore the relatedness among identified species. The results of the different molecular phylogenetic approaches including maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and neighbor-joining revealed nearly identical topological relations between the species and grouping of individuals in relation to their genera. The maximum parsimony tree based on mandible features has been found to be effective in clustering multiple species of a given genus in a clade in at least three termite genera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are more than 2800 different species of termites recognised, till date in the world, out of which 300 are from Indian region. The termites (Isoptera) are important insects from a number of economic and ecological perspectives. Very little work has been done on termites of Haryana. Thirty seven species of Termites belonging to three families (Rhiotermitidae, Kalotermitidae, and Termitidae) have been reported till date from Haryana belonging to eleven genera (Odontotermes, Microtermes, Microcerotermes, Heterotermes, Coptotermes, Trinervitermes, Bifiditermes, Neotermes, Speculitermes, Eremotermes and Angulitermes). As geography of Haryana varies from hills, semi desert, sandy plains to river plains, more number of species should be present. Present study reviews the work done till date on identification of termites in Haryana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]