Comparison of facial groves on two termite species

Comparison of the fontanelle, the opening in the center of the heads which secretes a defensive liquid, between two termite species – the pest-species C. gestroi (left) and the non-pest D. longilabius (right). Previously, the Rhinotermitidae family included both species with (D. longilabius) and without (C. gestroi) a narrow groove running from the fontanelle, but this inconsistency has now been cleared up thanks to phylogenetic analyses and by removing species without the grove like C. gestroi. Photos: Left: Thomas Chouvenc, UF/IFAS. Right: Simon Hellemans, OIST.