ORIGINAL PAPER Endemic origin and vast anthropogenic dispersal of the West Indian drywood termite Rudolf H. Scheffrahn Æ Jan Kr ˇec ˇek Æ Renato Ripa Æ Paola Luppichini Received: 28 January 2008 / Accepted: 22 May 2008 / Published online: 13 June 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract Cryptotermes brevis is a common pest of structural lumber and sheltered wood in much of the non-Asian tropics. Until now, no endemic locality, as confirmed by regenerating outdoor populations, was known. A termite survey of the northern coastal desert of Chile and the vicinity of Lima, Peru, yielded 61 outdoor populations of C. brevis taken from 23 different native and exotic species of host woods at 19 localities. We review the taxonomic and biogeo- graphic history of C. brevis and suggest climatic and biological factors that favor or limit C. brevis distribution. We also propose a scenario implicating a post-Colombian release of C. brevis by shipboard infestations and the movement of infested wood during the early Spanish Empire to the present time. Keywords Biogeographic history Á Cryptotermes brevis Á Human dispersal Á Kalotermitidae Á Isoptera Á Endemic habitat release Introduction The West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis (Walker), is a common pest of structural lumber, furniture, and other sheltered wood products in the New World tropics and tropical oceanic islands (Edwards and Mill 1986; Bacchus 1987). This termite is also present, but to a more uncertain degree, in parts of Africa and Madagascar (Williams 1976) and Reunion Island (Fouquet 2000). In eastern Queens- land, Australia, spread of this termite has been limited, at least in part, by aggressive eradication efforts (Peters 1990). Although C. brevis was known to colonize only wood in structures (Hickin 1971; Steward 1982), it was hypothesized to be native to the circum-Caribbean region (Emerson 1936). A native habitat for this termite, however, was never resolved, so C. brevis remained a major exotic pest with no confirmed origin. After numerous termite survey expeditions to Central America and the West Indies, it became clear to us that C. brevis, although very common in structures, was absent from outdoor woodland environments in the Caribbean basin, and therefore, not endemic to this region. In 2004, one of us (RR) collected C. brevis from old dead wood of field-cultivated grape vines near the desert farming R. H. Scheffrahn (&) Á J. Kr ˇec ˇek Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3205 College Avenue, Davie, FL 33314, USA e-mail: rhsc@ufl.edu J. Kr ˇec ˇek e-mail: jfkr@ufl.edu R. Ripa Á P. Luppichini Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Centro Regional de Investigacio ´n V Regio ´n, Chorrillos 86, La Cruz, Chile e-mail: rripa@inia.cl P. Luppichini e-mail: pluppich@inia.cl 123 Biol Invasions (2009) 11:787–799 DOI 10.1007/s10530-008-9293-3