Genus Apicotermes · 尖白蚁属

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

Of the alate the original makes known only the wings: in the forewing the area between the costa and the radial sector is unusually broad at the base, the radial vein very well developed and giving off 1–2 anterior branches, the media with 6–8 branches, the cubitus with about 14 closely set branches. Soldier head elongate, rectangular, about 1.5 times as long as wide, frons flat and slightly triangularly depressed, fontanelle small, distinct, surrounded by no hairs; mandibles short and very robust; antennae 14-segmented; fore coxa with an anteriorly directed tooth-like process. Worker head very broad, subcircular, pale, basal piece of the postclypeus very large and strongly arched, antennae 15-segmented, fore coxa with a large tooth-like process.

Alate

Forewing: the area between the costa and the radial sector is unusually broad at the base; within this area the radial vein is unusually well developed and even gives off 1–2 anterior branches running towards the costa; the base of the radial sector sometimes bears 1 short anterior vein and has a distal posterior branch; the media arises independently from the wing scale and has 6–8 branches; the cubitus has about 14 closely set branches, all reaching the posterior margin of the wing, of which the inner 8–9 are partly concealed; the area between the radial sector and the media is distinctly reticulate. Hindwing: the radial vein is shorter than in the forewing; the media has a thicker anterior accessory vein in the inner 1/3 and gives off 4–5 branches towards the wing apex or the posterior margin; the cubitus has about 16 posterior branches; the rest as in the forewing. Wing surface, especially at the base, dark, finely punctate; forewing 12.5 mm long.

Soldier

Head elongate, rectangular, about 1.5 times as long as wide, narrowing only very slightly anteriorly, relatively flat; frons flat, slightly triangularly depressed; fontanelle small but distinct, surrounded by no hairs. Basal piece of the postclypeus not sharply delimited from the frons, the apical piece smaller. Labrum relatively broad, ligulate, with a short, rounded, white, hairy apex. Mandibles short and very robust, the apices curving inwards rather strongly; the left mandible with 3 tooth-like swellings at the apex and in the middle, the outermost largest, situated about the middle of the apical half of the mandible; base large, with a strong basal swelling; the right mandible with 2 weak tooth-like swellings in the middle, the molar angle short and small, with 1 small anteriorly directed rudimentary tooth on the base behind it. Antennae 14-segmented, segment 3 about half of segment 2, segment 4 slightly shorter than segment 2. Pronotum pale yellow and sclerotised, narrower than the head, shallowly saddle-shaped, anterior lobe large, anterior and posterior margins slightly concave. Dark intestinal contents visible through the abdomen; cerci short, without stylus; fore coxa with an anteriorly directed tooth-like process.

Worker

Head (very) broad, subcircular, pale; fontanelle plate about at the middle of the head; basal piece of the postclypeus very large, very strongly arched, as long as half its width; first mandibular tooth larger than the second but not large; antennae 15-segmented, segment 3 short; anterior lobe of the pronotum very large, saddle-shaped; cerci small, without stylus.

Sources: Holmgren N. 1912. Termitenstudien. 3. Systematik der Termiten. Die Familie Metatermitidae. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 48(4): 1–166., pp. 104–105（Gattung Apicotermes n. g.；Imago、Soldat、Arbeiter） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.