Genus Afrosubulitermes · 非锥白蚁属

Morphology

The descriptions below are an adaptation of the original genus-level accounts; terms follow the meaning of the source, and the original is not transcribed verbatim.

Diagnostic characters

Sands considered this genus the closest to Eutermellus among the Ethiopian genera, and the generic boundary between the two is not as clear-cut as the original description suggested: the main features of the genus are the very small size and greatly reduced pilosity of the alate together with the relatively short nasus of the soldier; it also shares characters of Postsulitermes and appears intermediate between that genus and Eutermellus.

Alate

Apical tooth of the left mandible distinctly longer than the first marginal tooth, but the distance between them slightly shorter than that between the first and third marginal teeth (left mandible index 0.89–0.94); the cutting edge in front of the third marginal tooth deeply concave, slightly undulate or nearly straight. Postclypeus almost flat, following the contour of the head, 2–3 times as wide as long. The fontanelle appears as a slender narrow ridge, visible only in oblique light on the highly polished head capsule, with a pale elliptical spot in front of it. Compound eyes not projecting from the sides of the head. Head almost hairless, with only paired conspicuous setae on the vertex, between the ocelli, and on the middle and anterior margin of the postclypeus.

Soldier

Monotypic. Nasus slender, cylindrical, tapering to a fine point; reduced mandibles without an apical process; anterior margin of the labrum undulate; antennae 12 segments.

Worker

Mandibles as in the alate, but the apical tooth proportionally longer (left mandible index 1.36–1.39); the cutting edge behind the first left marginal tooth more undulate; the ridge on the right molar plate more pronounced.

Sources: Sands, W. A. 1965. A revision of the termite subfamily Nasutitermitinae (Isoptera, Termitidae) from the Ethiopian Region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology, Supplement 4. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History)., pp. 153–154（Imago、Soldier、Worker 属征及讨论）; Emerson, A. E. 1960. New genera on the Subulitermes branch of the Nasutitermitinae from the Ethiopian Region (Isoptera, Termitidae). American Museum Novitates 1987: 1–21., pp. 7–8（原始描述：兵蚁、工蚁） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.