INS ins_1294 Dispatch: 10-21-2009 CE: Journal MSP No. No. of pages: 7 PE: Rod 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Insect Science (2009) 00, 1–7, DOI 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2009.01294.x Parentage analysis in Gabonese colonies of soil-feeding termites belonging to the Cubitermes sp. affinis subarquatus complex of species (Termitidae, Termitinae) Virginie Roy 1 , Lise Dupont 1 and Myriam Harry 2 1 Unit ´ e Mixte de Recherche 137 Biosol, UFR de Sciences, Universit ´ e Paris 12-Val de Marne, 61 avenue du G´ en´ eral de Gaulle, 94010 Cr´ eteil cedex, 2 Laboratoire Evolution, G ´ enomes et Sp´ eciation, UPR9034, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91198 Gif sur Yvette, France Abstract Cubitermes spp. are widely distributed soil-feeding termite species in sub- Saharan Africa which play a fundamental role in soil structure and fertility. A complex of at least four cryptic species (i.e., Cubitermes sp. affinis subarquatus complex of species) has been recently described using molecular markers. In order to investigate the breeding system of these species, five microsatellite markers were used to carry out parentage and re- latedness analyses in 15 Gabonese colonies. Monogamy was confirmed as the predominant reproductive organization in Cubitermes spp. (76% of the colonies). Within 30% of these monogamous colonies, a high relatedness between reproductives was shown, suggesting that mating between related individuals occurs. However, Cubitermes colonies can deviate from monogamy. Indeed, parental contributions by at least two related reproductives of the same sex were revealed in four colonies and polyandry was demonstrated in two of them. Infiltration of reproductives in the colony is the most plausible explanation for such cases of polygamy in Cubitermes spp. Key words breeding system, Cubitermes spp., microsatellite markers, monogamy, soil- feeding termites. Introduction Cubitermes species are very common soil-feeding ter- mites in sub-Saharan Africa. Soil-feeders belong to higher termites (Termitidae) and are of major ecological impor- tance since they play a fundamental role in soil structure and fertility, modifying the physical and chemical prop- erties of the soil (Garnier-Sillam & Harry, 1995; Lavelle et al., 1997; Davies et al., 1999). Furthermore, it has been reported that their species richness is affected by habitat disturbance, such as deforestation. They are thus Correspondence: Virginie Roy, Unit´ e Mixte de Recherche, 7618 Bioemco, Universit´ e Paris 12-Val de Marne, 61 avenue du G´ en´ eral de Gaulle, 94010 Cr´ eteil cedex, France. Tel: + 33 (0) 1 45 17 15 07; fax: + 33 (0) 1 45 17 15 05; email: roy@ univ-paris12.fr considered as useful bio-indicators of forest disturbance (DeSouza & Brown, 1994; Eggleton et al., 1996; Eggle- ton et al., 2002). In this context, knowledge about the dis- persal modalities of reproductive individuals is of basic importance. A way to infer dispersal abilities is to evaluate genetic relatedness between reproductives. However, the genetic description of soil-feeder breeding systems has been rarely achieved (however, see Dupont et al., 2009). Cubitermes sp. affinis subarquatus has been recently described as a complex of species. Using nuclear (mi- crosatellites and the second nuclear rDNA internal tran- scribed spacer ITS2) and mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase II) markers, Roy et al. (2006) demonstrated the ex- istence of at least four cryptic species. A high genetic dif- ferentiation was revealed between these species (pairwise microsatellite F ST up to 0.49) while they lived in sympatry in the Lop´ e Reserve (Gabon). However, to our knowledge C  2009 The Authors Journal compilation C  Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1