Genus Anenteotermes · 无甲白蚁属

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

The most important diagnostic character is the mixed segment of the worker gut. Body size varies greatly within the genus (alate W 0.65–1.06 mm), and the width of the meso- and metanotal constriction and the mandibular proportions also span most of the range, so Sands based the genus on the gut rather than on measurements.

Worker

Very small to medium-sized, W 0.56–0.84 mm. Fore tibia moderately to scarcely inflated, Ti/Tw 3.58–5.00, with 3 apical spurs, the third smaller than the other two, reduced in one species only. Apical tooth of the mandible short to moderately long, La/Li 0.46–0.73, Ra/Ri 0.54–0.89; the proximal end of the subsidiary tooth of the left mandible has just left to far clear of the molar prominence; the tip of the first marginal tooth of the right mandible lies slightly to distinctly behind the line joining the apical tooth and the second marginal tooth, and its anterior margin equals or is shorter than that of the second, usually shorter. Midgut and hindgut overlap and are prolonged into a distinct mixed segment, the proximal end of the hindgut lying far to the left of the Malpighian knot. Enteric valve seat weakly bilobed or trilobed, the third lobe usually smaller, sessile or joined by a short neck to the second hindgut pouch; in the undissected abdomen it lies laterally to dorsally. Enteric valve cushions retracted or projecting through the valve opening, sometimes elongate and sclerotised, bearing scales or spines from small to long, the long spines sometimes comb-like.

Alate

Very small to medium-sized, W 0.65–1.06 mm. Fore tibia with 3 apical spurs, the third well developed. Apical tooth of the mandible short to moderately long, La/Li 0.42–0.76, Ra/Ri 0.62–1.00; the proximal end of the subsidiary tooth of the left mandible is just to distinctly clear of the molar prominence; the apical and marginal teeth of the right mandible are in line, or the first marginal tooth is set back behind the line from the apical tooth to the second marginal tooth; the anterior margin of the first marginal tooth may be longer than, equal to or shorter than that of the second. Meso- and metanotal plates narrow to rather wide at the constriction, M/W 0.19–0.31, transverse sutures usually present but not strong.

Sources: Sands W. A. 1972. The soldierless termites of Africa (Isoptera: Termitidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology Supplement 18: 1–244. doi 10.5962/p.192782., pp. 192–194 This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.