Problem Statement: The termite genus Coptotermes has a few species that are notorious as pests of timber on an international scale. They are responsible for enormous losses in buildings throughout the tropics and subtropics. The ability of these termites to nest in pieces of moist timber and form new nests from fragments of the colony enables them to survive as stowaways on board ships that spread them to new geographical areas. Large amounts of money are spent annually to control these pests and in the development of control measures. However, there has been for many decades, till recently, a paradox in the pest status of these species of termites. Coptotermes havilandi, which is a serious alien pest in parts of South and North America, is thought to have been introduced from Southeast Asia, yet in countries in its supposed area of origin, it has never been accorded much importance as a pest. Instead, the pest species known to the region were said to be primarily C. gestroi and C. travians.

Methods: This paradox prompted the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) to undertake a study on the taxonomy of these species. The degree of variation in castes, individuals and populations in Malaysia and neighbouring countries was examined. The study showed that C. havilandi and C. gestroi were in fact the same species. Thus, the alien species introduced to the Americas should be known as C. gestroi instead of C. havilandi. It was also shown that the true C. travians was not a pest that enters buildings but, rather, a species of the forest, and that what was wrongly called C. travians in Malaysia and neighbouring countries was in fact C. gestroi.

Outcomes and Impacts: In Southeast Asia there is, in fact, a single pest species, C. gestroi, that was introduced to various parts of the world, including the Americas and islands in the Caribbean and Pacific and Indian oceans. In view of the status of C. gestroi as a pest species of international concern, it was given a common name, the Asian Subterranean Termite.

Numerous studies have been conducted in different parts of the world on the biology and management of the various termite pest species that were thought to be different. The recognition of a single species is enabling the scientific information from different countries to be pooled. This, in turn, is facilitating the development of improved pest management strategies.

Lessons: The information we have about a species is only as good as the name that is applied to it. If the wrong name is applied, then decisions including pest control practices are based on the wrong information or do not make use of information that is already available. If the taxonomy of a group of species has been insufficiently studied, confusion is likely to abound. This confusion passes down to the level of industry and can have serious economic impacts, or even directly harmful effects on human beings. In this particular example, industry is now able to avoid duplication in the testing and design of control strategies such as baiting technologies. The study that enabled this is only one example of how fundamental taxonomic research can have far reaching impacts on science, industry and society across the world.