Genus Coptotermes · 乳白蚁属

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 Coptotermes section of the original book); the source keys and measurement tables are not reproduced here.

Morphology

Key characters

Soldier with an oval head, distinctly narrowed anteriorly; fontanelle a large opening, situated at the front of the head and projecting forwards as a short tube; mandibles slender and curved, the inner margin smooth and toothless apart from the serrate notch at the base; antennae 13–17-segmented.

Soldier

Soldier with an oval head, markedly narrowed anteriorly. Fontanelle large, situated at the front of the head, extending outwards as a short tube with the opening directed forwards. Mandibles slender and curved, the tooth row entirely absent apart from the serrate notch retained at the base, the inner margin smooth. Antennae 13–17-segmented. Labrum an acute ligula. Pronotum flat, narrower than the head capsule.

Alate

Alate with a broad, oval head capsule; postclypeus very short, its surface flat. Antennae 18–25-segmented. Pronotum flattened, narrower than the head capsule. Forewing scale larger than the hindwing scale and overlapping it; venation with a very faint reticulate pattern, the wing surface hairy; the media of the forewing arises independently at the humeral suture, that of the hindwing from the base of the radial sector, the media and cubitus very close together. Fontanelle situated at the centre of the head.

Biology and economic significance

Species of this genus mainly attack timber components in buildings and cause the greatest losses of any termite group in the provinces of southern China; buried plastic cables and amenity trees are also frequently damaged. They are important pests worldwide. The species are morphologically very similar and often difficult to identify, and individuals of different colony ages in the same nest differ greatly in colour and size.

Distribution

Oriental region; distributed throughout the provinces of southern China, with the greatest number of species in the South China area.

Summary

Coptotermes soldiers have an oval head narrowing markedly in front, where a large fontanelle opening extends as a short forward tube. The mandibles are slender and curved, smooth along the inner margin except for a basal serration, and antennae have thirteen to seventeen segments. Alates have a broad oval head, a very short flat postclypeus, eighteen to twenty-five antennal segments and overlapping forewing scales. The genus is the most destructive termite of buildings in southern China, also damaging cables and trees.

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.