Genus Cryptotermes · 堆砂白蚁属

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

Morphology

Key characters

Soldier with a short, thick head capsule, the front part almost black; frontal and genal regions each extending into a pair of horn-like processes; vertex and frontal area often irregularly wrinkled; antennae 11–15-segmented; postclypeus nearly trapezoidal; tarsi 4-segmented; cerci 2-segmented.

Soldier

Soldier with a short, thick head, dark brown with the front part almost black; in some species the vertex, frontal area and sides are coarsely wrinkled, and a thick transverse frontal ridge often lies between vertex and frontal area, with or without a V-shaped notch at its centre. Two pairs of horn-like processes at the front of the head: the upper pair, above and in front of the antennal sockets, arises from the lateral margin of the postclypeus and is termed the frontal horn; the lower pair, below and in front of the antennal sockets, is formed by prolongation of the genae and is termed the genal horn, its shape varying with the species. Frontal surface mostly concave; compound eyes generally visible, unpigmented. Antennae 11–15-segmented, clypeus slightly trapezoidal, labrum nearly triangular or ligulate. Mandibles short, the outer margin convex at the middle, the posterior part of the postmentum broad. Pronotum about as wide as the head capsule, its anterior margin deeply concave, mostly wavy or dentate. Legs short, tibial spur formula 3:3:3, tarsi 4-segmented, cerci 2-segmented.

Alate

Alate head pale yellow, yellowish brown, reddish brown or dark brown in colour, pilosity sparse to moderate, posterior margin evenly rounded, coronal suture usually visible. Compound eyes small, round or nearly round; ocelli oval, touching or close to the compound eyes. Antennae 12–18-segmented. Postclypeus slightly trapezoidal, its anterior margin either convex or concave; labrum transverse. Left mandible with three marginal teeth, the right with two. Pronotum narrower than the head capsule, in a few species slightly exceeding the width of the head including the compound eyes. Tibiae with three apical spurs, tarsi 4-segmented.

Distribution

Oriental region; species of this genus are recorded from all provinces of southern China.

Summary

Cryptotermes soldiers have a short, thick, dark brown head, almost black in front, with a wrinkled vertex and frons in some species. Two pairs of horn-like processes arise at the front: frontal horns above the antennal fossae and genal horns below them. Antennae have eleven to fifteen segments, the clypeus is trapezoidal and the mandibles are short. The pronotum equals the head in width, with a deeply concave, wavy or serrate anterior margin; tibial spurs are three to three to three.

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.