Data from: Mitochondrial phylogenetics position a new Afrotropical termite species into its own subfamily, the Engelitermitinae (Blattodea: Termitidae)

<p>While new species of termites are described every year, the description of species distant from every known termite species is rare. In this paper, we describe one such species,&nbsp;<em>Engelitermes zambo</em><strong>&nbsp;sp. n.</strong>,&nbsp;an African Termitidae belonging to an entirely new lineage of termites for which we create a new subfamily, Engelitermitinae<strong>&nbsp;subfam. n.</strong>&nbsp;The subfamily status of Engelitermitinae was supported by termite phylogenetic trees, including sequences from the four existing samples of&nbsp;<em>E. zambo&nbsp;</em><strong>sp. n.</strong>, which, albeit with low bootstrap supports, placed&nbsp;<em>Engelitermes</em>&nbsp;<strong>gen. n.</strong>&nbsp;on a long branch sister to&nbsp;<em>Forficulitermes</em>, the two of which formed the sister group of a clade comprising Cubitermitinae, Nasutitermitinae, Syntermitinae, and all other Termitinae. The sister relationship between&nbsp;<em>Engelitermes&nbsp;</em><strong>gen. n.</strong>&nbsp;and<em>&nbsp;Forficulitermes</em>&nbsp;is further supported&nbsp;by the similar gut structure of their workers. In contrast, the soldiers of&nbsp;<em>Engelitermes&nbsp;</em><strong>gen. n.</strong>&nbsp;resemble those of&nbsp;<em>Cephalotermes</em>. Our phylogenetic analyses, including all clades of Termitinae, call for a global taxonomic revision of Termitinae subfamily names. Finally, our study highlights that new unique termite lineages are still awaiting to be described.</p>