Towards consistent termite identification: a workflow and insights from West African savannah termite assemblages

Abstract Termites are social insects that play important ecological roles, especially in dry tropical ecosystems. However, studying their ecology is severely hampered by the difficulty with which species are morphologically identified, limiting studies to a few iconic species. Here we present the results of molecular species delimitation approaches combined with morphological analyses to provide a comprehensive update on termite species from West African savannahs. Our study comprised a large data set of more than 1200 termite specimens collected from savannahs of three West African countries: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. We identified a total of 53 species, mainly from the Termitidae, with the most species-rich subfamily belonging to the fungus-growing termites (Macrotermitinae). We provide molecular barcodes for all species and photographs of most species. We also outline traits that allow species identification of morphologically identifiable species and highlight genera for which more work and revisions are required. In addition, by outlining practical guidelines and a workflow for future work to identify and name species consistently, our work provides the basis for upcoming termite studies, until comprehensive revisions of specific genera, which are currently difficult to perform, become available.