Termites (Isoptera) of Kerala: An updated checklist and comprehensive review of species diversity

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive checklist of termites found in Kerala, including their district-wise distribution. A total of 93 species from three families and 34 genera are documented. Among these, Termitidae emerges as the dominant family, encompassing 76 species from 27 genera across four subfamilies. The recent additions to the termite fauna of Kerala include the endemic species Ceylonitermellus sahyadriensis Ranjith and Kalleshwaraswamy 2022 and Prorhinotermes cotym Joseph, Amina, and Mathew 2023. Notably, the subfamily Termitinae exhibits the highest level of endemism.