Termites are the principal decomposers in tropical and subtropical ecosystems around the world. Time-calibrated molecular phylogenies show that some lineages of Neoisoptera diversified during the Oligocene and Miocene, and acquired their pantropical distribution through transoceanic dispersal events, probably by rafting in wood. In this paper, we intend to resolve the historical biogeography of one of the earliest branching lineages of Neoisoptera, the Rhinotermitinae. We used the mitochondrial genomes of 27 species of Rhinotermitinae to build two robust time-calibrated phylogenetic trees that we used to reconstruct the ancestral distribution of the group. Our analyses support the monophyly of Rhinotermitinae and all genera of Rhinotermitinae. Our molecular clock trees provided time estimations that diverged by up to 15.6 million years depending on whether or not 3rd codon positions were included. Rhinotermitinae arose 50.4-64.6 Ma (41.7-74.5 Ma 95% HPD). We detected four disjunctions among biogeographic realms, the earliest of which occurred 41.0-56.6 Ma (33.0-65.8 Ma 95% HPD), and the latest of which occurred 20.3-34.2 Ma (15.9-40.4 Ma 95% HPD). These results show that the Rhinotermitinae acquired their distribution through a combination of transoceanic dispersals and dispersals across land bridges.

Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Sorbonne Universités iEES Paris U 242 Bondy France; Université Paris 13 Sorbonne Paris Cité LEEC EA 4443 Villetaneuse France

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University 1919 1 Tancha Onna son Okinawa 904 0495 Japan

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University 1919 1 Tancha Onna son Okinawa 904 0495 Japan; Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czech Republic

School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Perth WA 6009 Australia; Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore

School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney Sydney NSW 2006 Australia

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