Genus Ahmaditermes · 钝颚白蚁属

Fauna Sinica account

The account below is a reorganized and rewritten adaptation of the genus-level description in Fauna Sinica, Insecta Vol. 17, Isoptera (2000) (genus-level account reorganised and rewritten from the Ahmaditermes section of the original book); the source keys and measurement tables are not reproduced here.

Morphology

Key characters

In the soldier the head lacks a nasus and is broadly pear-shaped; the head surface is scattered with fine hairs; the head is constricted behind the antennal sockets, the sides strongly convex near the base, the posterior margin concave at the middle; the mandibles are short and blunt, without pointed tips; the mandibular body is robust; monomorphic or dimorphic; antennae 12–13-segmented.

Soldier

Soldier monomorphic or dimorphic. Head surface scattered with fine hairs. Head without a nasus, broadly pear-shaped in outline, narrowed behind the antennal sockets, the sides distinctly swollen near the base, the posterior margin concave inwards at the middle. Mandibles short and blunt, not forming pointed tips at the apex, the mandibular body robust. Antennae 12–13-segmented. The head capsule is widest between the swellings near the base.

Alate

In the alate, the apical tooth of the left mandible is almost as long as the first and second marginal teeth together, and the cutting edge between the marginal teeth is undulating. Antennae 15-segmented. The media of the forewing arises independently at the humeral suture, while that of the hindwing arises from the base of the radial sector. These mandibular and wing-venation characters agree with those seen in the worker; only the number of antennal segments is greater.

Worker

In the worker the apical tooth of the left mandible is almost as long as the first and second marginal teeth together, and the cutting edge between the two marginal teeth is undulating rather than straight. Its mandibular tooth pattern agrees with that of the alate; only the body form and the development of the wings differ.

Distribution

Oriental region; distributed in southern China, mostly in tropical and subtropical forest areas.

Summary

Ahmaditermes soldiers are monomorphic or dimorphic and sparsely haired. The head lacks a nasus and is broadly pear-shaped, constricted behind the antennal sockets and strongly bulging on both sides near the base, with a concave posterior margin. The mandibles are short and blunt, without pointed tips, and antennae are 12 or 13 segmented. In alates and workers the left mandibular apical tooth nearly equals the first and second marginal teeth combined. The genus is Oriental.

Sources cited: Huang Fusheng, Zhu Shimo, Ping Zhengming, Wang Zhiguo, Li Can and Xu Chungui, 2000. Fauna Sinica, Insecta Vol. 17, Isoptera. Beijing: Science Press. This text is a reorganized adaptation, not a verbatim transcription.