Genus Hoplognathotermes · 锐颚白蚁属

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 unknown. Soldier: head large, sides straight and parallel; frontal gland area flat or slightly concave in section; head surface with only very few short setae near the frontal gland opening, postmentum nearly bare; each mandible with 1 conspicuous, anteriorly directed large marginal tooth situated before the midpoint, the left tooth with a long basal cutting edge; legs and fore coxae longer than in Duplidentitermes; tibial spur formula 3:2:2, middle tibia without dark outer spine.

Soldier

Head surface with only very few, rather short scattered setae near the frontal gland opening; fore coxa without strong spines, with only a few fine setae not forming a special arrangement; first 4 abdominal tergites with short hairs or setae, posterior tergites and sternites with additional short hairs. Head large, sides straight and parallel; frontal gland area flat or slightly concave in section. Postmentum large, moderately constricted, slightly convex in section. Antennae 15-segmented. Postclypeus distinct, slightly arched; labrum with rounded lateral margins, the sides straight and parallel behind the lateral angles, the apex rounded-obtuse. Each mandible with 1 conspicuous, large, anteriorly directed marginal tooth situated before the midpoint; left tooth with a long basal cutting edge (unlike Firmitermes). Pronotum with a larger anterior lobe, the median notch of the anterior margin shallow and indistinct. Legs longer than in Duplidentitermes; fore coxa also longer, simple, the longitudinal ridge obtuse and unspecialised, straight or flatly convex in section, extending about 1/3–1/2 from the apex towards the base, convex between ridge and inner margin. Femora slender, nearly equally thick at the middle. Tibial spur formula 3:2:2, middle tibia without dark outer spine.

Worker

Apical teeth of both mandibles only slightly larger than the first marginal tooth; cutting edges of the first and second marginal teeth of the left mandible long and less undulating (straighter than in Duplidentitermes and other closely related genera of the subfamily); a distinct notch between the first and second marginal teeth and the third marginal tooth; compared with Acutidentitermes, the first marginal teeth of both mandibles less anteriorly directed, the angle between apical tooth and first marginal tooth more obtuse, the cutting edges of the first and second marginal teeth of the left mandible proportionally slightly shorter.

Sources: Emerson A. E. 1959. The African termite genera Firmitermes, Hoplognathotermes, Acutidentitermes, Duplidentitermes, and Heimitermes (Termitidae, Termitinae). American Museum Novitates 1947: 1–43., p. 13（Imago 未知）、pp. 13–15（Soldier、Worker） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.