Family Archotermopsidae · 古白蚁科

About the family

The family Archotermopsidae was established by Engel, Grimaldi and Krishna in 2009 (Engel, Grimaldi & Krishna, 2009: 11)(5), with the type genus Archotermopsis Desneux, 1904. The family name derives from the type genus: Archotermopsis is formed from the Greek archaios (ancient) combined with Termopsis (the genus name Termopsis). This family is one of the groups commonly known as the “dampwood termites”; the soldiers have robust mandibles with distinct apical and marginal teeth, a flattened head, no fontanelle, and a large body size. The soldiers have a visible Y-shaped suture on the dorsal surface of the head, reduced eyes, 19–27 antennal segments, three marginal teeth on the left mandible and two on the right, a flat pronotum narrower than the head, and 5-segmented tarsi; the winged adults have distinct ocelli and are large-bodied. This checklist includes 2 genera and 5 species.

The distribution of this family shows a disjunct north-temperate pattern: the genus Zootermopsis is restricted to western North America (from the west coast to the southwest), while the genus Archotermopsis is distributed in China, Vietnam, South Asia and adjacent regions. Both genera inhabit decaying fallen logs and stumps in humid environments, constructing their nest within a single piece of wood; the colony never leaves its food source throughout its life, and labor is performed by pseudergates. Zootermopsis angusticollis became established in Hawaii (at high elevation on Maui) around 1999, and Zootermopsis nevadensis was first recorded in Japan at Kawanishi in 2000 (4). This family has low tolerance for dry environments and generally does not damage dry structural timber, but in North America Zootermopsis attacks damp wooden structural members along the Pacific coast, where it is an important dampwood termite pest of buildings (6).

This section is the standing account the site maintains for this rank and is updated on this page as the classification is revised; the checklist index is in the Checklist.