Abstract
IN a cytogenetic survey of the termites of Florida, we have found two species, Incisitermes schwarzi (Banks) and Kalotermes approximatus (Snyder) (Isoptera; Kalotermitidae), that possess segmental interchange complexes as a regular feature of their breeding system. This report is concerned with the chromosomes of I. schwarzi, which has the most extensive complex of reciprocal translocations so far described in any animal species. The complex involves about half of the chromosome set, and is restricted to males. The occurrence of this interchange complex may be related to the social organisation of these insects, to an inbreeding habit of reproduction, or to the evolution of a mechanism of sex determination with multiple sex chromosomes.
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SYREN, R., LUYKX, P. Permanent segmental interchange complex in the termite Incisitermes schwarzi. Nature 266, 167–168 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/266167a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/266167a0
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