Mapinguaritermes marizalensis, a new species of Syntermitinae (Blattodea, Termitidae) from Brazilian Amazon

In this study, Mapinguaritermes marizalensis sp. nov. (Termitidae: Syntermitinae) is described based on external and internal morphological characters of workers and soldiers, as well as molecular data. The new species was collected in the Juruá River basin, central Brazilian Amazonia, and can be readily distinguished from the other congeners, M. peruanus and M. grandidens, by the soldiers’ conspicuously larger and subrectangular head capsules, as well as shorter and more robust mandibles.

However, it shares several characteristics of the gut, such as the ornamentation of the crop, P1 and the enteric valve, with its congeners. Molecular data (COII gen) were used to consolidate the phylogenetic placement of the species within the subfamily.