About the Nevada Dampwood Termite
Zootermopsis nevadensis, the Nevada termite or Nevada dampwood termite, is a eusocial species of termite (Isoptera) in the family Archotermopsidae, a group known as the dampwood termites. It is a hemimetabolous organism.
It is the genome of Zootermopsis nevadensis nuttingi that has been sequenced. The Nevada termite lives in central and central-east California, and in central-west Nevada. The Nevada termite lives in deserts, grasslands, prairies, and rural areas. The Nevada termite is preyed on by passerine birds, shrews, spiders, lizards, salamanders, frogs, and toads. The main objective of sequencing Zootermopsis nevadensis genome was to find molecular traces of eusociality. The authors compared the whole sequenced and assembled genome and 25 transcriptomes from different development states and castes with the already sequenced genomes of eusocial Hymenoptera and ants.
This termite only has two opsin genes copies, the smallest number of opsin genes known among the insects, as a result of living in the dark for tens... Wikipedia →