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.

Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Université Libre de Bruxelles Avenue F D Roosevelt 50 CP 160 12 B 1050 Brussels Belgium

Faculty of Tropical AgriScience Czech University of Life Sciences Kamýcká 129 165 00 Prague 6 Suchdol Czech Republic

Institute of Geochemistry Mineralogy and Mineral Resources Faculty of Science Charles University Albertov 6 128 00 Prague Czech Republic

Laboratory of Trophic and Isotopes Ecology UR FOCUS 13 allee du six aout University of Liège 4000 Liege Belgium

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

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Termite dispersal is influenced by their diet