Morphological Identification of Edible Termites (Isoptera) in Luanda Sub County, Kenya

Termites are social insects that live in colonies underground. Globally, there are 3000 termite species, of which 39% are found in Africa. Termites are used as food and livestock feed in most communities of the world. In Kenya, termites are consumed by many communities, especially in the western region. Termite species diversity across different parts of the Luanda sub-county was established as there are many edible and non-edible species in the area. This study assessed the species diversity of termites in Luanda sub-county, and characterized them morphologically. Termites were sampled in Luanda sub-county using the line transect method. The collected termites were preserved in tubes containing 70% Ethanol. The preserved samples were taken to the National Museums of Kenya for morphological identification up to species level. Species richness of each habitat was analyzed for diversity (Shannon-Wiener) index and Shannon index by using Vegan package version 1.16 32 in R. The differences in species composition and diversity of termites were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Morphological identification recorded seven species, namely, Macrotermes herus, Macrotermes spp1, Macrotermes sp1, Pseudocanthotermes grandiceps, Macrotermes bellicosus, Macrotermes spp2 and Pseudocanthotermes militaris. The results of this study showed that the Shannon diversity index H was 0.3606 while Simpson index D was 0.20644, which implied a high species diversity of termites in Luanda sub-county a leading producer of edible termites in Kenya.


Introduction
There are around 3000 species of termites in 280 genera that have been de-How to cite this paper: Caleb, A., Helida, O., Amolo, E. and Benard, M. (2022) Morphological Identification of Edible Termites (Isoptera) in Luanda Sub-County, Kenya. Advances in Entomology scribed worldwide, and about 39% of the total termite species are found in Africa [1]. Identification of termites is crucial to understanding their distribution and abundance [2] and their relationship to climate change and food security. Termites have important functional and ecological roles in Africa and the world. However, a few species are pests, while 99% of the more than 2000 termite species offer beneficial ecosystem services. Despite their importance, termites are largely understudied, and most ecological research in tropical ecosystems concentrates on mound building termites, while comparatively little is known about hypogeal termite species [3]. The taxonomy of African termites is challenging, and many new species are yet to be described [4]. Termites have excellent nutritional qualities, proximate composition indicates that termites all species of termites have low shelf-life, and a good source of crude protein of 45.85% [5], and other micro-and macro-nutrients. Consumption of termites should thus be encouraged in Africa and the rest of the world. Termites have a low phytic acid value and hydrocyanide value, which implies that they are harmless [6].
There are many termite species across the world, [10] documented that termites are classified into nine families namely, Termitidae which is notably the largest family, that consists 14 subfamilies, 280 genera and over 2600 species identified in the world. In his work [11] found out that there are approximately 175 species of termites from 42 genera and three families (Kalotermitidae, Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae) all originating from Peninsular Malaysia. In a research conducted in India, [12] identified termites of the genus Odontotermes sp. The most abundant species was Odontotermes feae, Odontotermes obesus, and Odontotermes feoides. In Northern Africa: termite species diversity is low thus has less than 15 species. This is due to the arid and semi-arid conditions as reported by [13]. In East Africa, it was found that less than 143 termite species were present in the habitats. In Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan to the North, and Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe and South Africa, Southern Africa accounted for more than 165 species. Despite the numerous efforts to identify termites, the taxonomy of African termites is challenging, as new species have not been characterized [14]. Predation on termites by wild animals such as snakes and birds also play a significant role in reducing the populations of termite [15]. Diversity Index is a measure of diversity which takes into account the number of species present, as well as the relative abundance of each species. As species richness and evenness increase, so diversity increases. In a study by [16] documented that there were two species of termites in the study area in Pakistan. The

Species diversity is assessed using Simpson and Shannon indices Simpson's
Simpson diversity scale was 48% while Shannon scale was 97%. On the other hand, the species richness was 0.5917. In a study done in Indonesia [17] documented that the lowest termite species richness was 62.5%. According to [18] [19], termite species differ in their morphology and ecology, including colony size, nesting, feeding, grooming, swarming and reproductive behaviour. Accurate identification of termite species and information on their distribution are key in developing environmentally and sustainable pest control strategies. According to [20], termite identification, especially, Coptotermes species is very challenging as the morphological identification of this species cannot provide detailed taxonomic status. The overdependence on the soldier morphological features presents a major challenge to species taxonomy because of the intraspecific variation in morphological characters in soldiers thus molecular identification are needed to give clear information.
[21] documented that over 4300 samples of termite were used in the studies in Thailand. Termites were identified using morphological features of soldiers. The characteristics used in the identification of termite genera were the shape and size of head, fontanelle, labrum, clypeus, mandible and pronotum. Additionally, to mandible characteristics, the location of teeth and number of antennae were also used. Measurements were generally taken in ethanol-preserved specimens which were dissected out and placed on the petri-dishes. [22] in their research documented that eight species of termite noted in the study area belonged to the family Termitidae. The dominance of the genus Macrotermes could be due to their character as generalist feeders that eat organic material. M. bellicosus was dominant in fresh grasslands while M. subhyalinus which existed in both fresh grassland and dry wood unlike Macrotermes spp1 which was collected on the ground Odontotermes spp1, Macrotermes spp1 and Pseudocanthotermes spp1 were identified as crop pests.

Study Site
Luanda sub-county is located 0˚30'34˚35"E it has a population of 134,202 (2019 Census) who occupy an area of 1200 km 2 . The climate is mainly tropical with variations due to altitude. Luanda Sub-County is mainly warm with mean temperature of 21˚C and wet most of the year. The dorminant soil type is sandy loam which is a mixture of clay and sand soil. The soil is usually fertile, well drained, moderate moisture retention capabilities and varied particle size.

Economic Activities and Food Security
The main economic activity is farming, majorly, sugarcane and maize on large

Sampling of Soldier Termites to Determine the Species Composition
The termites were sampled from farms in the study site. This is because they have high prevalence of termites. The habitats t sampled were grasslands, forests, farms and hills. Sampling was done in the agroecological zones as per soil map of Vihiga County.

Determination of Species Composition of Solder Termites in Each Habitat
The solder and worker termites were sampled as they come out from their nests Solder termites, and workers were sampled in a grid, 20 cm below the ground, and 1 meter on trees. Each grid was thoroughly searched for any termite mud trails, tree trunk, fallen tree trunks, rotting vegetation, and termite mounds. The solder termites were hand sorted according to different castes and kept in tubes containing 70% alcohol then taken to the laboratory for identification. Information on the GPRS of the sampled site was recorded this and the procedure was repeated in grasslands, forested area and hilly sites.

Morphological Identification of Termites
The collected termites were examined at National museums of Kenya under real-time imaging dissecting microscope. Identification of termites was based on description from [23] and [24]. The identification was done up to species level.   (Figures 1-7)

Species Diversity of Termites in Luanda Sub-County
Soldier and worker termites were sampled in Luanda sub-County, in 47 sites.
The Shannon diversity index was H = 0.3606685, while Simpson index was D = 0.2064429.

Species Richness
The total number of species identified in Luanda sub-county was 7 and the species accumulation curve is shown in Figure 8 showing the abundance of species in the 47 sites.

Analysis of Variance of Termite Species
The results from ANOVA show that the difference between soldiers and workers was significant at p < 0.05 (Table 8).
Comparison between the number of soldiers and workers.
Post hoc test was done to show that there was no significant difference between the number of soldiers and workers ( Figure 9, Table 9).
Different letters indicate significant differences (the least significant difference at 5%).

Comparison between Different Termite Species
A total of 7 species were identified out of which six species had no significant difference (a) while there was significant difference in Macrotermes spp1 (a b) (Table 10). Figure 8. The species accumulation curve for species diversity data of termites in Luanda using the exact method. Figure 9. Boxplot of termite species count across the workers and soldiers.    [25] in his work reported that there are many termite species in Africa, some have been poorly described due to lack of sufficient termite taxonomist. This study envisaged to identify termite species in Luanda sub-county in order to document on the species diversity of termites in the area. Termites were identified at the National Museums of Kenya; using termite identification keys as referred to by [26]. Specimens were identified to species level using soldier castes. Termite identification done on the termites collected in Luanda sub-county revealed that there were 7 species identified collected in 47 sites. The identified species include M. herus Table 4, Macrotermes spp1 Table 5, Macrotermes sp1 Table 6, P. grandiceps Table 2, M. bellicosus Table 3, Macrotermes spp2 Table  7 and P. militaris Table 1. Termites are widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical savannas as elucidated by [27]. In western Kenya a number of species have also been identified and this illustrates the high species diversity of termites. Macrotermes sp1 had the lowest species richness among all the six species, at

Species Diversity of Termites in Luanda Sub-County
Mwikunga it had a species richness of 1.822. In a similar study [29] recorded that the lowest species richness of termites observed in the grassy savanna could mainly be explained by the annual disturbance. Fire behavior intensity, the rate of spread, flame height, residence time, and surface temperature is influenced by a wide range of variables such as fuel characteristics, burning season, and weather conditions. The mean summary of workers and soldiers indicated that there was a significant difference Table 9 and Figure 9. Analysis of variance of the termite species shows that the difference between Soldier s and workers was significant at p < 0.05, Table 8.
The identified species based on body morphology include M. herus  Table 9. Termites are one of the soil macro fauna that have sensitivity to microhabitat variation as reported by [30]. Luanda sub-county has diverse features of termite habitats thus the presence of different species which contribute to food and feed for the local community. Luanda sub-county is characterized by farm forests. Grasslands, swamps, hilly terrain with rock outcrops.
High species diversity was obtained in grassland mixed with trees habitat as they offered a ready feed source to the foraging termites. Termite sampling was done using the belt transect method which ensured that most locations were searched for the presence of termites. [31] in his study noted that although the geographical ranges of two Macrotermes species largely overlap, Macrotermes michaelseni prefer higher elevations. At Ebulako site Macrotermes sp1 was predominantly found at 18% of all the termite species collected. Ebulako is found on latitude 34.61169 E 34˚36'42.078" and longitude 0.00194 N 0˚0'6.978". Ebulako is characterized by rock our crops hilly terrain and shrubs with little grass. [32] found out that weather conditions precipitated by climate change favour the increased

Conclusion
This study addressed the gaps in the knowledge on edible termite species and their locations in Luanda sub-county. Having established the location and identities of edible termites will assist in the conservation efforts of the termites.
Termites are used as food and feed in Luanda sub-county, therefore the knowledge on the species diversity in different habitats will inform termite harvesters on which areas to harvest.