Reticulitermes lucifugus 暗黑散白蚁
- Type locality
- (country unknown): "Shores of Mediterranean"
- Distribution
- Mediterranean Europe, Southern Europe, West Asia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe (Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Madeira (Portugal), Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia)
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Reticulitermes lucifugus is a species of the genus Reticulitermes, in the family HETEROTERMITIDAE. The species was described by Rossi in 1792; the type locality is (country unknown): “Shores of Mediterranean”. Distribution: Mediterranean Europe, Southern Europe, West Asia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe (Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Madeira (Portugal), Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia). This site records 5 junior synonyms for the species.
Etymology
Genus name Reticulitermes: From Latin reticulum (little net) + termes.
Specific epithet lucifugus: Latin lux (light) + fugus (fleeing), light-avoiding
Taxonomic position
- Family: HETEROTERMITIDAE — 3 genera, 229 species
- Genus: Reticulitermes — 140 species
- Type species of the genus: Reticulitermes flavipes
Distribution
- Distribution records: Mediterranean Europe, Southern Europe, West Asia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe (Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Madeira (Portugal), Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia)
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Junior synonyms
This site records 5 junior synonyms for the species, listed by their original literature source:
- Termes arda Forskål, 1775: 96-97 — type locality: Yemen: Beitelfakíh
- Hemerobius raphidioides Villers, 1789: 56 — type locality: (country unknown): “Europa”
- Termes radicum Latreille, 1794: 84-85 — type locality: France: “environs de Paris.”
- Termes parvulum Illiger, 1807: 16 — type locality: Portugal: ?
- Termes pusillus Walker, 1853: 528-529 — type locality: (country unknown): ?
In older literature, regional checklists and database searches, this species may appear under the synonyms above (Termes arda, Hemerobius raphidioides, Termes radicum, Termes parvulum, Termes pusillus); this site treats them all under Reticulitermes lucifugus.
Subspecies
This species includes 3 subspecies:
- Reticulitermes lucifugus corsicus — Clément, 1977, type locality: France: Corsica
- Reticulitermes lucifugus lucifugus — Rossi, 1792, type locality: (country unknown): “Shores of Mediterranean”
- Reticulitermes lucifugus siculus — Ghesini, Luchetti & Marini, 2024, type locality: Italy: Sicily
Morphology
A species-level description from the original literature has not yet been compiled for this page. Original description: Rossi, 1792. See the genus page for the genus-level description; this page will be updated after the original text is checked.
Photos 38 photos
Freely licensed photos, click to enlarge. Hotlinked from iNaturalist / Wikimedia Commons; the rights stay with the photographers — author, licence and source page are shown under each photo. Only the first 6 are shown here; the rest are under “All photos” at the end of the page.
Distribution map
Aggregated from GBIF occurrence records on a 1° grid; only extant taxa of this checklist are used, so fossil records are excluded. Dot size and shade show the number of records inside a cell.
Related papers
Cached papers for this genus (matched automatically, for reference); to search this species with its junior synonyms merged in, use the literature search.
- Genetic Evidence for the Synonymy of Two Reticulitermes Species: Reticulitermes flavipes and Reticulitermes santonensis
Abstract
By applying the 16S rRNA mitochondrial marker to 434 populations of Reticulitermes termites from North, Central, and South America; France; and Germany with other locations around the world that we have analyzed, identical DNA sequence data were obtained from Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) in North America and Germany and for Reticulitermes santonensis Feytaud from undisturbed (nonurban) forested locations in western France. We also discovered identical DNA sequence data from previously unidentified Reticulitermes specimens from South America and Easter Island. Haplotypes F, M, and GG were observed in France; haplotype F in Germany; and haplotype GG was found on Easter Island, Santiago, Chile, and Montevideo, Uruguay. All of these haplotypes are found in numerous states within the continental United States. In light of their well documented morphological, chemical, and phylogenetic relationships, coupled with this new data that directly link these disjunct groups, R. flavipes and R. santonensis should be synonymized. Compared with other studies that largely suggest phyletic similarities, this is the first study that specifically matches haplotypes from North America (where populations of R. flavipes are endemic) with populations in Europe (where R. flavipes, described as R. santonensis, is presumed exotic).
- An indirect test of inbreeding depression in the termites Reticulitermes flavipes and Reticulitermes virginicus
Abstract
- Phylogenetic relationships of nearctic Reticulitermes species (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) with particular reference to Reticulitermes arenincola Goellner
Abstract
Papers on this species, synonyms included → OpenAlex Google Scholar CNKI
Abstracts come from open metadata; copyright remains with the original authors/publishers. For reference only — please check the original.
Other species in Reticulitermes (139 species)
- Reticulitermes aculabialis
- Reticulitermes aegeus
- Reticulitermes affinis
- Reticulitermes altus
- Reticulitermes amamianus
- Reticulitermes ampliceps
- Reticulitermes ancyleus
- Reticulitermes angustatus
- Reticulitermes angusticephalus
- Reticulitermes arenincola
- Reticulitermes assamensis
- Reticulitermes aurantius
- Reticulitermes balkanensis
- Reticulitermes banyulensis
- Reticulitermes bicristatus
- Reticulitermes bitumulus
- Reticulitermes brachygnathus
- Reticulitermes brevicurvatus
- Reticulitermes cancrifemuris
- Reticulitermes castanus
- Reticulitermes chayuensis
- Reticulitermes chinensis
- Reticulitermes choui
- Reticulitermes chryseus
- Reticulitermes citrinus
- Reticulitermes clypeatus
- Reticulitermes coelceps
- Reticulitermes conus
- Reticulitermes croceus
- Reticulitermes curticeps
- Reticulitermes curvatus
- Reticulitermes cymbidii
- Reticulitermes dabieshanensis
- Reticulitermes dantuensis
- Reticulitermes dayongensis
- Reticulitermes dinghuensis
- Reticulitermes emei
- Reticulitermes fengduensis
- Reticulitermes flaviceps
- Reticulitermes flavipes
139 species in this genus. See all species on the genus page →
Cite this species
Citation strings are generated from the fields of this page; please keep the DOI and the version number when citing.
GB/T 7714
班奈特格林. Extant Isoptera (termites): a checklist of Latin and Chinese names: Reticulitermes lucifugus 暗黑散白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/reticulitermes-lucifugus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_reticulitermes_lucifugus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Reticulitermes lucifugus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/reticulitermes-lucifugus/},
note = {HETEROTERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Reticulitermes lucifugus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/reticulitermes-lucifugus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -