Neotermes

Key takeaways

Neotermes belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Neotermes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Neotermes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Neotermes is a genus of termites in the Kalotermitidae family. The genus was first described by Nils Holmgren in 1911 (as a subgenus), and the type species is Neotermes castaneus. All species are obligate nesters of wood.

Species GBIF lists the following species:

Neotermes aburiensis Sjöstedt, 1926 Neotermes acceptus Mathews, 1977 Neotermes adampurensis Akhtar, 1975 Neotermes agilis (Sjöstedt, 1902) Neotermes amplilabralis Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes andamanensis (Snyder, 1933) Neotermes angustigulus Han, 1984 Neotermes araguaensis Snyder, 1959 Neotermes aridus Wilkinson, 1959 Neotermes arthurimuelleri (Rosen, 1912) Neotermes artocarpi (Haviland, 1898) Neotermes assamensis Saha & Maiti, 2000 Neotermes assmuthi (Holmgren, 1913) Neotermes binovatus Han, 1984 Neotermes blairi Chakraborty & Maiti, 1994 Neotermes bosei (Snyder, 1933) Neotermes brachynotum Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes brevinotus (Snyder, 1932) Neotermes buxensis Sen-Sarma & Roonwal, 1960 Neotermes camerunensis (Sjöstedt, 1900) Neotermes castaneus (Burmeister, 1839) Neotermes chilensis (Blanchard, 1851) Neotermes collarti Coaton, 1955 Neotermes connexus Snyder, 1922 Neotermes costaseca Scheffrahn, 2018 Neotermes cryptops (Sjöstedt, 1900) Neotermes cubanus (Snyder, 1922) Neotermes dalbergiae (Kalshoven, 1930) Neotermes desneuxi (Sjöstedt, 1904) Neotermes dhirendrai Bose, 1984 Neotermes dolichognathus Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes dubiocalcaratus Han, 1984 Neotermes eleanorae Bose, 1984 Neotermes erythraeus Silvestri, 1918 Neotermes europae (Wasmann, 1910) Neotermes ferrugineus (Holmgren, 1911) Neotermes firmus (Sjöstedt, 1911) Neotermes fletcheri (Holmgren & Holmgren, 1917) Neotermes fovefrons Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes fujianensis Ping, 1983 Neotermes fulvescens (Silvestri, 1901) Neotermes gestri Silvestri, 1912 Neotermes glabriusculus Oliveira, 1979 Neotermes gnathoferrum Grimaldi, Lal & Ware, 2010 Neotermes gracilidens Sjöstedt, 1925 Neotermes grandis Light, 1930 Neotermes grassei Piton, 1940 Neotermes greeni (Desneux, 1908) Neotermes hirtellus (Silvestri, 1901) Neotermes holmgreni Banks, 1918 Neotermes humilis Han, 1984 Neotermes insularis (Walker, 1853) Neotermes intracaulis Křeček & Scheffrahn, 2003 Neotermes jouteli (Banks, 1919) Neotermes kalimpongensis Maiti, 1975 Neotermes kanehirai (Oshima, 1917) Neotermes kartaboensis (Emerson, 1925) Neotermes kemneri Sen-Sarma & Roonwal, 1960 Neotermes keralai Verma & Roonwal, 1972 Neotermes ketelensis Kemner, 1932 Neotermes koshunensis (Shiraki, 1909) Neotermes krishnai (Maiti & Chakraborty, 1981) Neotermes lagunensis (Oshima, 1920) Neotermes larseni (Light, 1935) Neotermes laticollis (Holmgren, 1910) Neotermes lepersonneae Coaton, 1955 Neotermes longiceps (Cachan, 1949) Neotermes longipennis Kemner, 1930 Neotermes luykxi Collins & Nickle, 1989 Neotermes magnoculus (Snyder, 1926) Neotermes malatensis (Oshima, 1917) Neotermes mangiferae Sen-Sarma & Roonwal, 1960 Neotermes medius Oshima, 1923 Neotermes megaoculatus Sen-Sarma & Roonwal, 1960 Neotermes meruensis (Sjöstedt, 1907) Neotermes microculatus Sen-Sarma & Roonwal, 1960 Neotermes microphthalmus Light, 1930 Neotermes minutus Kemner, 1932 Neotermes miracapitalis Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes modestus (Silvestri, 1901) Neotermes mona (Banks, 1919) Neotermes nigeriensis (Sjöstedt, 1911) Neotermes nilamburensis Thakur, 1978 Neotermes ovatus Kemner, 1931 Neotermes pallidicollis (Sjöstedt, 1902) Neotermes papua (Desneux, 1905) Neotermes paraensis (Costa Lima, 1942) Neotermes paratensis Thakur & Sen-Sarma, 1975 Neotermes parviscutatus Light, 1930 Neotermes phragmosus Scheffrahn & Křeček, 2003 Neotermes pingshanensis Peng & Tan, 2009 Neotermes platyfrons Scheffrahn & Křeček, 2001 Neotermes prosonneratiae Akhtar, 1975 Neotermes rainbowi (Hill, 1926) Neotermes reunionensis Paulian, 1957 Neotermes rhizophorae Chakraborty & Maiti, 1994 Neotermes rouxi (Holmgren & Holmgren, 1915) Neotermes saleierensis Kemner, 1932 Neotermes samoanus (Holmgren, 1912) Neotermes sanctaecrucis (Snyder, 1925) Neotermes sarasini (Holmgren & Holmgren, 1915) Neotermes schultzei (Holmgren, 1911) Neotermes sepulvillus (Emerson, 1928) Neotermes setifer Snyder, 1957 Neotermes shimogensis Thakur, 1975 Neotermes sinensis (Light, 1924) Neotermes sjostedti (Desneux, 1908) Neotermes sonneratiae Kemner, 1932 Neotermes sphenocephalus Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes sugioi Yashiro, Takematsu, Ogawa & Matsuura, 2019 Neotermes superans Silvestri, 1928 Neotermes taishanensis Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes tectonae (Dammerman, 1916) Neotermes tuberogulus Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes undulatus Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes venkateshwara Bose, 1984 Neotermes voeltzkowi (Wasmann, 1897) Neotermes wagneri (Desneux, 1904) Neotermes yunnanensis Han & Xu, 1985 Neotermes zanclus Oliveira, 1979 Neotermes zuluensis (Holmgren, 1913)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neotermes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neotermes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Neotermes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Neotermes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Neotermes

In research: Neotermes appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Neotermes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Neotermes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Termite genera, Termite stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neotermes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Neotermes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Neotermes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Neotermes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Neotermes in simple terms?

Neotermes is a genus of termites in the Kalotermitidae family. The genus was first described by Nils Holmgren in 1911 (as a subgenus), and the type species is Neotermes castaneus.

Why does Neotermes matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Neotermes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Neotermes.