Genus Foraminitermes · 孔白蚁属

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

Alate head nearly circular, compound eyes strongly convex with coarse facets, ocelli close to the compound eyes, fontanelle at the apex of a short but distinct conical process (Holmgren suspected a fontanelle gland but left it in doubt because he could not confirm it); clypeal sclerite slightly shorter than half its width, slightly convex, not reaching the mandibular condyles; mandibles resembling those of Mirotermes; antennae 15 segments; anterior lobe of the pronotum large and strongly raised in a saddle shape; both wing pairs with a reduced radial vein; cerci short, without a stylus; fore tibia with 3 apical spurs. Sands noted that the soldier mandibles of this genus resemble those of Labritermes and that both have a transparent tip to the labrum; in the worker and alate the genus, as an adaptation to geophagy, has an elongated apical tooth and the transverse ridges of the molar plate lost.

Alate

Head nearly circular; compound eyes strongly convex with coarse facets; ocelli near the compound eyes; fontanelle at the apex of a short but distinct conical process (the source leaves the presence of a fontanelle gland in doubt); clypeal sclerite slightly shorter than half its width, slightly convex, not reaching the mandibular condyles; mandibles resembling those of Mirotermes; antennae 15 segments. Anterior lobe of the pronotum large and strongly raised, saddle-shaped; forewing scale slightly longer and wider than the hindwing scale; wing membrane transparent, slightly iridescent and very finely punctate; both wing pairs with a reduced radial vein; cerci short; no stylus; fore tibia with 3 apical spurs.

Sources: Holmgren, N. 1912. Termitenstudien. 3. Systematik der Termiten. Die Familie Termitidae, Isoptera. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 48(4)., p. 125（属征，德文）; Sands, W. A. 1972. The soldierless termites of Africa (Isoptera: Termitidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology, Supplement 18. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History)., p. 39（与 Labritermes 的比较：兵蚁上颚、上唇、工蚁与有翅成虫上颚齿比） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.