{{Short description|Genus of termites}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Amazonas Syntermes species.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Syntermes spinosus colony with queen pictured, from the Amazonas region of Brazil. The colony has evacuated the nest likely due to flooding. | taxon = Syntermes | authority = Holmgren, 1909 }}

'''''Syntermes''''' is a genus of large Neotropical higher termites within the subfamily Syntermitinae.<ref>Holmgren, N. 1909. Termite Studies. 1. Anatomical Studies. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 44 (3): 1-215.</ref><ref>Araujo, RL 1970. Termites of the Neotropical region. pp. 527-576 In: K. Krishna; FM Weesner, Biology of termites. Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.</ref> The genus is found only in South America where members are distributed widely throughout the continent, being found from the tropical rainforests of Colombia to the savannas of Brazil and Northern Argentina.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Constantino |first=Reginaldo |date=1995-11-10 |title=Revision of the Neotropical termite genus Syntermes Holmgren (Isoptera: Termitidae) |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/781 |journal=The University of Kansas Science Bulletin |volume=55 |pages=455–518 |issn=0022-8850}}</ref>

Most known species forage in the open and collect either leaf or grass litter which is stored in subterranean chambers for later consumption. The nests are primarily subterranean with epigeal mound structures built from loose dirt of varying compactness.<ref name=":0" /> Some species, such as ''Syntermes dirus'', construct highly impressive mounds with the most well known being found in a large complex of mounds spanning an area the size of Great Britain in northeastern Brazil. The mounds in this complex average 2.5 meters tall and 9 meters wide and are estimated to be as old as 4,000 years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://earthsky.org/earth/huge-ancient-termite-mounds-brazil-visible-via-satellite/ | title=Huge 4,000-year-old termite mounds visible via satellite &#124; Earth &#124; EarthSky | date=28 November 2018 }}</ref> Large species such as ''Syntermes aculeosus'' are eaten in some indigenous cultures; for example in the Makiritare in the Alto Orinoco province of Venezuela, where they fish the soldiers out via a stick.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Paoletti |first1=M. G. |last2=Buscardo |first2=E. |last3=Vanderjagt |first3=D. J. |last4=Pastuszyn |first4=A. |last5=Pizzoferrato |first5=L. |last6=Huang |first6=Y.-S. |last7=Chuang |first7=L.-T. |last8=Glew |first8=R. H. |last9=Millson |first9=M. |last10=Cerda |first10=H. |date=March 2003 |title=Nutrient content of termites(syntermes soldiers) consumed bymakiritare amerindians of the altoorinoco of Venezuela |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/036702403902-2255177 |journal=Ecology of Food and Nutrition |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=177–191 |doi=10.1080/036702403902-2255177 |bibcode=2003EcoFN..42..177P |issn=0367-0244|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A few species are known to cause some damage to cultivated plants like young Eucalyptus, peanuts, sugarcane and yams.<ref name=":0" />

== Identification == Workers of this genus are highly polymorphic, with there being four distinguishable sterile worker castes. The two largest castes are male and have heavily sclerotized heads ranging from brown to yellowish. The two smallest are female and have white unsclerotized heads of different sizes. Spines on the thoracic nota are present, although not as conspicuous as in the soldiers.<ref name=":0" />

The soldier caste is mostly monomorphic and likely develops from the largest male worker caste, which molts into a presoldier, and then into the terminal soldier molt. Soldiers have prominent spines on the thoracic nota, and unlike most other ''Syntermitinae'' soldiers, have a very short to completely absent frontal tube (nasus) on the head.<ref name=":0" /> Young colonies of some species have forma prima (first form) soldiers which are significantly smaller and morphologically distinct from soldiers of mature colonies. The soldiers of some Syntermes species are amongst the largest of all termites, with the soldiers of ''Syntermes spinosus'' obtaining an average dry bodyweight of 51.0±1.7&nbsp;mg, comparable to the largest ''Macrotermes'' species of Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=MARTIUS |first=Christopher |date=September 1998 |title=Occurrence, body mass and biomass of Syntermes spp. (Isoptera: Termitidae) in Reserva Ducke, Central Amazonia |journal=Acta Amazonica |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=319 |doi=10.1590/1809-43921998283324 |issn=0044-5967|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The imagoes have 19-21 antenna articles (antennomeres), the same number as workers. The head is generally round, with the compound eyes and ocelli generally being proportionally smaller than the head capsule. The postclypeus is not heavily inflated such as in other ''Termitidae''. The pronotum is mostly the same width as the head although sometimes a bit larger or narrower and mostly flat, and the fontanelle is often circular and large. The wings are long, somewhat narrow and often heavily sclerotized.<ref name=":0" /><gallery> File:TermiteAnatomy.png|Syntermes aculeosus worker, imago, and soldier illustrated along with mandibles and corresponding anatomical terminology. </gallery>

== Species == alt=Syntermes dirus mound in Brazil|thumb|''Syntermes dirus'' mound in Brazil # ''Syntermes aculeosus'' # ''Syntermes barbatus'' # ''Syntermes bolivianus'' # ''Syntermes brevimalatus'' # ''Syntermes calvus'' # ''Syntermes cearensis'' # ''Syntermes chaquimayensis'' # ''Syntermes crassilabrum'' # ''Syntermes dirus'' # ''Syntermes grandis'' # ''Syntermes insidians'' # ''Syntermes longiceps'' # ''Syntermes magnoculus'' # ''Syntermes molestus'' # ''Syntermes nanus'' # ''Syntermes obtusus'' # ''Syntermes parallelus'' # ''Syntermes peruanus'' # ''Syntermes praecellens'' # ''Syntermes spinosus'' # ''Syntermes tanygnathus'' # ''Syntermes territus'' # ''Syntermes wheeleri''

== References == {{Reflist}} * [http://164.41.140.9/catal/ Termite Catalog] * [http://www.organismnames.com/query.htm?q=Syntermes&searchType=simple&so=a0ION en ION] * [http://www.ubio.org/NZ/search.php?search=Syntermes&selectall=Check+All&colname=on&colcategory=on&colauthority=on&colcomments=on&page=&vol= Nomenclator Zoologicus] * Constantino, R. 1995. Revision of the neotropical genus Syntermes Holmgren (Isoptera: Termitidae). The University of Kansas Science Bulletin 55(13):455-518. * Emerson, A.E. 1945. The neotropical genus Syntermes (Isoptera: Termitidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 83(7):427-472. * Holmgren, N. 1909. Termitenstudien 1. Anatomische untersuchungen. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 44(3):1-215. * Holmgren, N. 1910a. Das system der termiten. Zoologischer Anzeiger 35:284-286. * Mathews, A.G.A. 1977. Studies on Termites from the Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Río de Janeiro: Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 267 pp.

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Category:Syntermes Category:Taxa described in 1909 Category:Termite genera