New Termites from Venezuela, with Keys and a List of the Described Venezuelan Species

TLDR: Three new species of termites were found in the material from Mt. Auyantepui, the site of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's science-fiction, "The Lost World," an isolated, raised plateau on which extinct prehistoric monsters still survived (1912).

Abstract: Early in 1956 Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Yepez of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Agricultura, Maracay, Estado Aragua, kindly sent me a collection of eight species of termites. These were collected in various Venezuelan states from 1949 to 1955, mostly by him. Among them were two undescribed species. In June, 1956, Dr. Fernandez-Yepez sent an additional 13 species of termites, 7 of which he collected on a trip in the spring of 1956 to Venezuelan Guiana, Mt. Auyantepui, and 6 species from North Central Venezuela. Mt. Auyantepui is the site of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's science-fiction, "The Lost World," an isolated, raised plateau on which (elsewhere) extinct prehistoric monsters still survived (1912). One new species was found in the material from Mt. Auyantepui. I visited Venezuela in November and December, 1955 and found that Heterotermes damaged growing sugar cane, Nasutitermes cacao trees. Heterotermes and Nasutitermes were also the subterranean termites most injurious to buildings and material stored in them, while Cryptotermes was the dry-wood termite causing most damage to wooden furniture and the woodwork of buildings. Species of Syntermes harvest grass in the daytime; nests are underground. No soldier occurs in Anoplotermes, species of which may damage the roots of crops. The discovery of the above-mentioned three new species brings the total number of termite species so far recorded from Venezuela to twenty-eight. A list and key to the known forms are appended below. Doubtless many other species occur in this large country with its varied climate.