1University Museum of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK, e-mail: ccook@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk
2National Museums of Kenya, P.O. box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya
3Current address: Committee on Evolutionary Biology, Culver Hall, 1025 East 57th Street, Chicago IL 60637, U.S.A., e-mail: davison@uchicago.edu
Summary. The taxonomy of termites of the genus Odontotermes is poorly resolved. We used partial sequences from the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene, combined with field and laboratory observations, to differentiate among populations of Odontotermes from four localities in Kenya. Three morphologically and behaviourally distinct forms from Kajiado (O. tanganicus (Sjöstedt), O. anceps (Sjöstedt) and O. zambesiensis (Sjöstedt)) have distinct mitochondrial haplotypes, confirming that these are separate biological species. In contrast, a form from Kasarani and Karen (O. stercorivorus (Sjöstedt)) shares almost identical mitochondrial haplotypes with the morphologically and behaviourally distinct O. montanus Harris at Embakasi. O. montanus at Embakasi and at Kinangop are fairly similar in behaviour, and at present are morphologically indistinguishable, but they have quite distinct mitochondrial haplotypes. We present a phylogeny of these mtDNA sequences and discuss it. We conclude that molecular sequence data provide a practical means of resolving ill-defined morphospecies in this genus.
Key words: Soldier morphology, nest structure, fungus comb, 16S rRNA, phylogeny.