Daniel Castro

• Research Associate at Instituto Sinchi

This paper presents an updated list of soil ants of the Colombian Amazon collected in three different river basins: the Amazon, the Caquetá and the Putumayo. The list includes 10 subfamilies, 60 genera and 218 species collected from TSBF monoliths at four different depths (Litter, 0 - 10 cm, 10 - 20 cm and 20 - 30 cm). This updated list increases c...

Livestock production extension in Amazon has caused deforestation and soil degradation, with negative consequences on diversity and environmental services. Recently, rubber crops have been established in deteriorated soils of the Colombian Amazon as an option to restore hectares of unproductive degraded pastures. Bioindicator insects, such as termi...

Successional processes in abandoned pastures in the Amazon region have been well-documented for the floristic component; however, soil succession has been poorly studied. This study assessed the physical, chemical and biological responses of soils in the Amazon region during the natural succession process in two main landscapes of the Colombian Ama...

Understanding global biodiversity change, its drivers, and the ecosystem consequences requires a better appreciation of both the factors that shape soil macrofauna communities and the ecosystem effects of these organisms. The project "sOilFauna" was funded by the synthesis center sDiv (Germany) to address this major gap by forming a community of so...

The neotropical Apicotermitinae is a common and widespread clade of mostly soil-feeding soldierless termites. With few exceptions, species of this group were originally assigned to the genus Anoplotermes Müller, 1873. The application of internal worker morphology coupled with genetic sequencing has recently shed light on the true diversity of this...

Understanding the recovery of soil macroarthropod communities during natural regrowth is crucial to demonstrate complete soil restoration. This is because these organisms can play a key role in shaping soil structure and community dynamics, making them essential to understanding these processes. This study investigates the recovery of soil macroart...

Cohabitation between ants and termites is a widespread yet understudied ecological interaction in tropical forests. This study explores the patterns of termite-ant cohabitation networks across different forest coverages in the Colombian Amazon, focusing on taxonomic composition, nesting substrates, and ant functional guilds. A total of 413 specimen...

Understanding the recovery of soil macroarthropod communities during natural regrowth is crucial for effective soil restoration. This study investigates the recovery of soil macroarthropod diversity, density, and biomass across different stages of natural regrowth, focusing on both: taxonomic and functional dynamics of groups. Macroarthropod commun...

With only two species described to date, Acorhinotermes Emerson 1949 is the least diverse genus of the Rhinoterminae subfamily in the Neotropics (Constantino 2022; Maiti 2011). Acorhinotermes was a monotypic genus for 70 years, since the transfer of the species originally described as Rhinotermes subfusciceps to Acorhinotermes subfusciceps (Emerson...

Typhlomyrmex Mayr is a genus of small and cryptic ants of the subfamily Ectatomminae. Here, we provide taxonomic notes on the ants of the genus Typhlomyrmex Mayr from Colombia, along with the description of Typhlomyrmex encanto sp. nov. based on the worker caste, and the re-description / description of the worker caste of T. clavicornis Emery and T...

Este conjunto de datos contiene 2.320 eventos de muestreo realizados en la amazonía Colombiana y 6.242 registros de hormigas y termitas de suelo, se colectaron utilizando la metodología TSBF, entre 2016 y 2021. Para hormigas se reportan 176 especies comprendidadas en 70 generos; mientras que para termitas se reportan 72 especies comprendidas en 44...

This poster, designed by Pierre Ganault, presetend the sOilFauna project to the SFE²-GfÖ-EEF conference in Metz on November 2022. The poster is largely inspired by the publication by Mathieu et al., 2022 Soil Organisms 10.25674/so94iss2id282

La diversidad de la fauna edáfica en los suelos se ve afectada por cambios en las coberturas vegetales. En el caso de la macrofauna se ha podido establecer una relación entre su composición y la salud de los suelos. En el presente capítulo se expone el inventario de la macrofauna edáfica en tres departamentos de la región amazónica colombiana: Amaz...

Las variadas condiciones edáficas de la región amazónica colombiana inciden en la composición y abundancia de las diferentes comunidades biológicas, lo cual genera una gran diversidad de especies con numerosas capacidades de adaptación que constituyen un potencial para Colombia. El país depende en gran medida de insumos importados para sus procesos...

El suelo es considerado el ecosistema más diverso de la Tierra, albergando aproximadamente el 15% del total de especies de organismos vivos del planeta. Sin embargo, es también uno de los ambientes menos estudiados desde su biodiversidad. Son pocos los estudios sobre la diversidad de los organismos que habitan los suelos, y mucho más limitados los...

Our recent description of Echinotermes biriba (Castro et al. 2018) does not clearly define the type repositories as we only give the acronyms “CATAC” and “UF”. The holotype and paratype workers are deposited in the Colección de artrópodos terrestres de la Amazonía Colombiana of the SINCHI Institute in Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia (CATAC). Additional...

We present the description of a new genus and species of soldierless termites from South America. Rustitermes boteroi Constantini, Castro & Scheffrahn, gen. et sp. nov. can be identified by the morphology of the enteric valve, with six slightly asymmetric cushions, each one forming a central pouch made of scales smaller than those between the cushi...

Acorhinotermes Emerson, 1949 is the only Neotropical Rhinotermitine genus with no major soldier. Herein Acorhinotermes claritae Castro & Scheffrahn, sp. nov. is described based on minor soldiers and an alate nymph collected in a secondary rain forest in the Colombian Amazon. The minor soldier of A. claritae Castro & Scheffrahn, sp. nov. has longer...

En el presente capítulo se presentan los resultados de la composición de comunidades de termitas y de hongos formadores de micorrizas arbusculares (HMA) asociados a clones promisorios establecidos en campos clonales de caucho a gran escala (CCGE) y a pequeña escala (CCPE) en el departamento del Caquetá, tomando como referencia el lon testigo IAN 87...

Eight species of termite from the Amazon and Orinoquia regions, belonging to four genera of the subfamily Syntermitnae, are recorded for the frst tme in Colombia. The species are Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar, 1832), Cornitermes pilosus Holmgren, 1906, Cornitermes ovatus Emerson, 1952, Cornitermes snyderi Emerson, 1952, Mapinguaritermes peruanus (Ho...

Eight species of termite from the Amazon and Orinoquia regions, belonging to four genera of the subfamily Syntermitinae, are recorded for the first time in Colombia. The species are Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar, 1832), Cornitermes pilosus Holmgren, 1906, Cornitermes ovatus Emerson, 1952, Cornitermes snyderi Emerson, 1952, Mapinguaritermes peruanus...

Embiratermes ignotus was described by Constantino (1991) and found in the Amazonas state of Brazil. This record has been unique for this species, until this paper. Here we report for the first time E. ignotus in Colombia. Additional information regarding some morphological characters of species and its ecology are provided.

A new Apicotermitinae genus and species Echinotermes biriba is described from workers collected on the Andean-Amazon Piedmont in Colombia and Peru. The enteric valve armature of Echinotermes biriba Castro & Scheffrahn, gen. et sp. n. is a remarkably diagnostic character. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis using the COI gene and including all other Ne...

Son pocos los estudios sobre cómo las poblaciones de organismos edáficos cambian a lo largo de un gradiente altitudinal, y más en sitios altamente biodiversos como la transición Andino-Amazónica. Con el ánimo de establecer las variaciones en la diversidad de termitas en el suelo con relación a la altitud y a la transición biogeográfica, en el año 2...

La cuenca amazónica es de las más importantes a nivel mundial y altamente biodiversa. Son pocos los estudios que en diversidad de hormigas se han realizado a nivel de cuenca, no siendo claro el efecto del río y los diversos tipos de suelo sobre este tipo de organismos. Con el fin de evaluar la dinámica de las comunidades de hormigas en las cuencas...