The Heterotermitidae, or subterranean termites, is a family of termites that was elevated to family level from the subfamily Heterotermitinae, formerly nested in Rhinotermitidae. Recent cladistic analyses as of 2024 strongly support Heterotermitidae as sister to the Termitidae, forming the clade Geoisoptera. Members of this family are some of the most economically significant insects known, with Coptotermes formosanus in particular costing an estimated >$2.2 billion in damages within the United States alone. They primarily feed through the soil-wood interface, foraging for food through the soil and mud tubes. The nests of most species are typically diffuse galleries and tunnels, however Coptotermes is known to build more complex centralized nests built from carton, with some species building mounds.
Genera
Wikispecies has information related to Heterotermitidae.References
Hellemans, Simon; Rocha, Mauricio M.; Wang, Menglin; Romero Arias, Johanna; Aanen, Duur K.; Bagnères, Anne-Geneviève; Buček, Aleš; Carrijo, Tiago F.; Chouvenc, Thomas; Cuezzo, Carolina; Constantini, Joice P.; Constantino, Reginaldo; Dedeine, Franck; Deligne, Jean; Eggleton, Paul (2024-08-07). "Genomic data provide insights into the classification of extant termites". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 6724. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-51028-y. ISSN 2041-1723. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51028-y ↩
Froggatt, W.W. (1897a) Australian Termitidae. Part II. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 22, 510-552. ↩
Hellemans, Simon; Rocha, Mauricio M.; Wang, Menglin; Romero Arias, Johanna; Aanen, Duur K.; Bagnères, Anne-Geneviève; Buček, Aleš; Carrijo, Tiago F.; Chouvenc, Thomas; Cuezzo, Carolina; Constantini, Joice P.; Constantino, Reginaldo; Dedeine, Franck; Deligne, Jean; Eggleton, Paul (2024-08-07). "Genomic data provide insights into the classification of extant termites". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 6724. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-51028-y. ISSN 2041-1723. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51028-y ↩
Bradshaw, Corey J. A.; Leroy, Boris; Bellard, Céline; Roiz, David; Albert, Céline; Fournier, Alice; Barbet-Massin, Morgane; Salles, Jean-Michel; Simard, Frédéric; Courchamp, Franck (2016-10-04). "Massive yet grossly underestimated global costs of invasive insects". Nature Communications. 7 (1): 12986. doi:10.1038/ncomms12986. ISSN 2041-1723. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12986 ↩
Tayasu, I.; Abe, T.; Eggleton, P.; Bignell, D. E. (1997). "Nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in termites: an indicator of trophic habit along the gradient from wood-feeding to soil-feeding". Ecological Entomology. 22 (3): 343–351. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2311.1997.00070.x. ISSN 1365-2311. https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2311.1997.00070.x ↩
Hadlington, Phillip W. (1996). Australian Termites and Other Common Timber Pests. UNSW Press. ISBN 978-0-86840-399-1. 978-0-86840-399-1 ↩
Relph, Andrew Elbe; Kylar McCann; Raquel. "Coptotermes formosanus". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2025-05-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Coptotermes_formosanus/#:~:text=Habitat,Su,%202006) ↩