Genus Dolichorhinotermes · 狭鼻白蚁属

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

In the alate the 3rd flagellar segment is shorter than the 1st flagellar segment; in the major soldier the labrum is distinctly elongate, its apex often reaching the ends of the mandibles, whereas the labrum of Rhinotermes is almost square and much shorter; in the minor soldier the opening of the frontal gland lies on the anterior part of the head but is not borne on a distinct frontal projection, the mandibles are reduced with rounded margins, and in dorsal view the sides of the head are straight or convex.

Alate

The 3rd flagellar segment is shorter than the 1st flagellar segment. For the extant species D. lanciarius the original records the alate as 'Imago. Unknown.'; the alate of the fossil species D. apopnus: head large, broad and rounded, the anteclypeus projecting forwards as a broad beak-like process, the frontal gland small and situated at the base of the beak, the compound eyes large and protruding, the ocelli large and elongate and not touching the compound eyes.

Soldier

Major soldier: posterior part of the head broader, the sides gently rounded and narrowing forwards; left mandible with two coarse teeth, the first just before mid-length and the second slightly behind it, the first distinctly longer than the second; right mandible with two teeth near mid-length, the first shorter than the second; labrum elongate with a rounded apex, without an incision, and with a shallow longitudinal groove dorsally; antennae with at least 14 segments, the 3rd flagellar segment distinctly shorter than the 1st; pronotum saddle-shaped. Minor soldier: sides of the head weakly convex and narrowing forwards, the posterior margin rounded; antennae 16 segments, the 3rd flagellar segment distinctly shorter than the 1st; mandibles reduced to broad fleshy lobes bearing only minute sclerotised points; labrum narrow and long, forked at the apex, the two prongs widely separated.

Sources: Engel, M. S.; Krishna, K. 2007. New Dolichorhinotermes from Ecuador and in Mexican amber (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). American Museum Novitates 3592: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3592[1:NDFEAI]2.0.CO;2, p. 2 (genus diagnosis); pp. 2–3 (D. lanciarius, major and minor soldier) This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.