Data from: Asexual queen succession in the higher termite Embiratermes neotenicus

Asexual queen succession (AQS), in which workers, soldiers and dispersing
reproductives are produced sexually while numerous non-dispersing queens
arise through thelytokous parthenogenesis, has recently been described in
three species of lower termites of the genus Reticulitermes. Here, we show
that AQS is not an oddity restricted to a single genus of lower termites,
but a more widespread strategy occurring also in the most advanced termite
group, the higher termites (Termitidae). We analysed the genetic structure
in 10 colonies of the Neotropical higher termite Embiratermes neotenicus
(Syntermitinae) using five newly developed polymorphic microsatellite
loci. The colonies contained one primary king accompanied either by a
single primary queen or by up to almost 200 neotenic queens. While the
workers, the soldiers and most future dispersing reproductives were
produced sexually, the non-dispersing neotenic queens originated through
thelytokous parthenogenesis of the founding primary queen. Surprisingly,
the mode of thelytoky observed in E. neotenicus is most probably automixis
with central fusion, contrasting with the automixis with terminal fusion
documented in Reticulitermes. The occurrence of AQS based on different
mechanisms of ploidy restoration raises the hypothesis of an independent
evolutionary origin of this unique reproductive strategy in individual
lineages of lower and higher termites.