By:
Tom Nordlie (352) 392-0400Source:
Rudolf Scheffrahn rhsc@ufl.edu, (954) 577-6312
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On the island where Christopher Columbus may have first set foot in the New World, a University of Florida entomologist has made another intriguing discovery related to sea travel – but this one involves termites.
A research team that included Rudolf Scheffrahn, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, found a previously unknown termite species on San Salvador, part of a 700-island chain east of Florida that includes the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
So far, the insect has not been identified anywhere else, making San Salvador – which measures less than 40 square miles – the world’s smallest island with a unique termite species. Scientists are unsure whether the new termite evolved from some other species on the island or if it’s actually an undescribed termite from another part of the world that arrived long ago in a piece of floating wooden debris that washed onshore.
The discovery was announced in a paper published in the May issue of the journal Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
“We’re scratching our heads, because typically when you have a species native to a chain of islands you find it all along the chain,” said Scheffrahn, who is stationed at UF’s Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. “We made a careful survey of all the major islands and we’re convinced this termite is found only on San Salvador.”
Primarily a tourist destination, San Salvador is surrounded by deep water and was never connected to other islands during periods of low sea level, he said. The island has been described by some historians as the most likely place Columbus initially came ashore when he arrived in the Western Hemisphere in October 1492.
The newly discovered termite, which is not considered a structural pest, was given the scientific name Cryptotermes bracketti. It was one of three previously unknown species formally described in the article, which Scheffrahn co-authored with fellow researchers Jan Krecek and Boudanath Maharajh of UF, and James Chase and John Mangold of the Terminix pest control company. The article summarizes a 15-year survey of termites found on 33 of the chain’s major islands.
The research, funded by Terminix, was conducted partly to enhance scientific knowledge about the diversity and distribution of termites on the islands. Researchers also had a more pragmatic goal, scouting for species that might present future pest problems to South Florida.
“The good news – or perhaps the bad news, depending on how you look at it – is that we didn’t uncover any new threats,” Scheffrahn said. “All the really damaging species in the region have already been found in Florida.”
Nineteen termite species are established in Florida, several of them invasive pests native to the Caribbean and Latin America. One exotic termite species was recently eradicated from Florida by the UF team. Worldwide, about 3,000 termite species have been identified, though scientists believe several thousand more exist. Scheffrahn’s team has named more than 30 new termite species.
Termites reaching Florida from other countries often arrive by boat at busy seaports such as Miami, he said. But in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, there’s much less international boat traffic, making it unlikely the new species was brought over accidentally.
To further investigate the new termite, Scheffrahn hopes to have graduate students use genetic research to identify closely related species, he said.
“It would be great to develop a solid theory about how this species came to be on the island, or at least determine where its relatives are located,” he said.
Scheffrahn’s latest discoveries are a testament to the quality of UF’s termite research program, said Van Waddill, director of the Fort Lauderdale center.
“Dr. Scheffrahn and his colleagues Nan-Yao Su, Brian Cabrera and Bill Kern are all conducting world-class research here at the center,” said Waddill, who is a professor of entomology. “Because termites pose a constant threat to Florida homes and businesses, we do everything possible to understand these insects, and sometimes our research pays off in unexpected ways.”
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