Genus Hyleotermes · 森林白蚁属

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

Soldier head capsule oval in dorsal view, with a long cylindrical nasus, without a constriction, without long setae, covered with microscopic hairs; worker slightly dimorphic, the mixed segment very short; enteric valve with 6 pads of unequal size, each pad bearing from a few to several dozen narrow spines set on conical bases. In its small size, pale yellow colour and cylindrical nasus the soldier is closest to Ereymatermes and Subulitermes; among the three, only H. brevipilus, S. constricticeps and S. microsoma have a head capsule without long setae, and the latter two are distinctly smaller (head width about 0.6 mm). The worker enteric valve is diagnostic and differs from that of Ereymatermes and Subulitermes. Distinguished from Nasutitermes s. str.: in the latter the enteric valve armature bears pointed scales trailing posteriorly into scale rows, the molar plate is narrow and straight with well-developed ridges, the apical teeth of the mandibles are short with larger marginal teeth, the mixed segment is very long, and the enteric valve is unsclerotised and bears only minute spines; in addition, female workers of Nasutitermes s. str. are distinctly larger than males.

Alate

Compound eyes large, slightly oval; ocelli large, elliptical, about as large as the antennal sockets; postclypeus slightly arched in lateral view, its median line distinct and slightly concave, anterior margin nearly straight, posterior margin convex; fontanelle conspicuous, slit-like; frontal suture indistinct; antennae 15-segmented; mandibular tooth pattern similar to that of worker type 2; pronotum trapezoidal in dorsal view, anterior and posterior margins nearly straight; posterior margins of the mesonotum and metanotum deeply and broadly concave, posterolateral corners rounded; tibial spur formula 2:2:2.

Soldier

Monotypic; head capsule longer than wide in dorsal view, without a constriction; nasus slender, nearly cylindrical; head capsule, legs and thoracic sclerites densely covered with short, relatively coarse hairs; mandibles with a small but distinct 'point'; antennae 12-segmented; postclypeus not convex in lateral view; labrum wider than long, anterior margin rounded, lateral margins parallel, anterior corners rounded; anterior and posterior lobes of the pronotum equally developed, enclosing an obtuse angle; fore coxa conical, without a ridge, its anterior surface without a projection; tibial spur formula 2:2:2.

Worker

Dimorphic, the two types similar in size. In type 1 the gap between M3 and the molar region swelling of the left mandible is narrow, the head capsule darker and nearly trapezoidal, the pronotum narrower and the anterior lobe larger than the posterior lobe; in type 2 the gap is wide, the head capsule slightly paler with more convex sides, the pronotum wider with the anterior and posterior lobes nearly equal. In both types the fontanelle lies in the posterior half of the head capsule, is pale and slightly concave in lateral view; postclypeus not inflated; antennae 13-segmented; tibial spur formula 2:2:2. In both types the apical tooth of the left mandible is larger than M1, the posterior margin of the apical tooth slightly concave and forming an acute angle with the anterior margin of M1, the posterior margin of M1 undulating; M3 short but distinct, with a V-shaped gap to the molar region swelling in type 1 and a wide gap in type 2; M4 short, hidden beneath the molar region swelling; molar region swelling concave, with indistinct ridges. Apical tooth of the right mandible larger than M1, M3 reduced with a rounded tip, the posterior margin of M3 concave, the molar plate concave with indistinct ridges, the basal notch distinct but narrower in type 2.

Sources: Cuezzo C., Scheffrahn R.H. & Constantino R. 2022. Revised systematic position of Nasutitermes brevipilus Emerson, 1925 (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) and the designation of Hyleotermes gen. nov. Zootaxa 5195(1): 73–86. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5195.1.4, p. 78（Hyleotermes gen. nov.: Diagnosis / Description） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.