Genus Cucurbitermes · 葫白蚁属

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

Morphology

Key characters

Soldier monomorphic or dimorphic; head almost bare, the nasus with only a few hairs at its apex, constricted like a gourd at the base of the nasus and at the antennal sockets; nasus a slender tube; mandibles blunt and convex, without pointed tips; antennae 13–14-segmented; anterior half of the pronotum upright.

Soldier

Soldier monomorphic or dimorphic. Head almost bare, with only a few hairs at the apex of the nasus, the thoracic tergites hairless. Excluding the nasus, the head is about as long as wide, or slightly wider than long; constricted like a gourd at the base of the nasus and at the antennal sockets, strongly convex behind the antennal sockets, the sides rounded, the posterior margin rather flat; nasus slender and tubular. Mandibles blunt and convex, without pointed tips. Antennae 13–14-segmented. The anterior half of the pronotum stands upright, at about a right angle to the posterior half. Tibial spur formula 2:2:2, tarsi 4-segmented.

Alate

Dealate head with long and short hairs interspersed with setae, the pronotum with rather many setae. Head nearly circular; fontanelle large and elongate-oval, not forked anteriorly, with a longitudinal line running from it to the posterior margin; postclypeus raised, with another longitudinal line at its centre; compound eyes large, elliptical and convex outwards, ocelli oval and slightly convex. Apical tooth of the left mandible as long as the first marginal tooth, the cutting edge between the two teeth nearly straight. Antennae 15-segmented. Anterior margin of the pronotum nearly straight, the posterior margin slightly concave at the middle. Tibial spur formula 2:2:2, tarsi 4-segmented.

Distribution

Oriental region; a subtropical element, recorded from southern and south-eastern China.

Summary

Cucurbitermes soldiers are monomorphic or dimorphic and almost bare, with a few hairs at the tip of the nasus. Excluding the nasus the head is about as long as broad or slightly broader; it is constricted like a gourd at the nasus base and antennal sockets, strongly bulging behind the sockets. The nasus is slender and tubular, the mandibles blunt without points, antennae are 13 or 14 segmented, and tarsi are four-segmented. Reproductives have 15-segmented antennae.

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.