Termite dispersal is influenced by their diet

Termites feed on vegetal matter at various stages of decomposition.
Lineages of wood- and soil-feeding termites are distributed across
terrestrial ecosystems located between 45°N and 45°S of latitude, a
distribution they acquired through many transoceanic dispersal events.
While wood-feeding termites often live in the wood on which they feed and
are efficient at dispersing across oceans by rafting, soil-feeders are
believed to be poor dispersers. Therefore, their distribution across
multiple continents requires an explanation. Here, we reconstructed the
historical biogeography and the ancestral diet of termites using
mitochondrial genomes and δ13C and δ15N stable isotope measurements
obtained from 324 termite samples collected in five biogeographic realms.
Our biogeographic models showed that wood-feeders are better at dispersing
across oceans than soil-feeders, further corroborated by the presence of
wood-feeders on remote islands devoid of soil-feeders. However, our
ancestral range reconstructions identified 33 dispersal events among
biogeographic realms, 18 of which were performed by soil-feeders.
Therefore, despite their lower dispersal ability, soil-feeders performed
several transoceanic dispersals that shaped the distribution of modern
termites.