Genus Kalotermes · 木白蚁属

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) (generic description in the original book's section on Kalotermes, reorganised and rewritten); the source keys and measurement tables are not reproduced here.

Morphology

Key characters

Soldier head large, rectangular, the two sides rather flat; mandibles stout, longer than half the head length, the inner margin with many teeth of unequal size; antennae with thirteen to eighteen segments, the third swollen; tibial spur formula 3:3:3.

Soldier

Soldier head large, rectangular, the two sides rather flat, the dorsal margin straight in lateral view. Frons slightly projecting, sloping towards the clypeus. Mandibles stout and somewhat elongate, longer than half the head length, the inner margin bearing many teeth of unequal size. Antennae with thirteen to eighteen segments, the third distinctly enlarged. Pale eye spots visible behind the antennal sockets. Postmentum somewhat elongate, the waist at the middle or slightly behind it, the widest part with the two sides nearly parallel in the anterior two-thirds, slightly concave in the middle. Pronotum broad and flat, the median notch of the anterior margin wide and shallow, the two sides nearly parallel, the middle of the posterior margin slightly concave. Femora thick, legs short, with three tibial spurs, formula 3:3:3.

Alate

Alate head slightly convex, the lateral margins parallel, the posterior margin broadly arcuate, outline nearly quadrilateral. Postclypeus extremely short, not divided into two lobes. The posterior margin of the first marginal tooth of the left mandible is fused with the second marginal tooth and longer than the anterior margin of the third marginal tooth. Antennae with sixteen to nineteen segments, ocelli slightly separated from the compound eyes. Pronotum broad and flat, the notch of the anterior margin broadly arcuate, the two sides slightly parallel and symmetrical, the posterior margin broad, the median notch shallow and wide. The anterior margin of the forewing scale projecting, longer than or equal to the pronotum and much larger than the hindwing scale. Rs divided into several branches. The media of the forewing not sclerotised, arising within the wing scale of Cu and running between Rs and Cu. Legs very short, tibial spur formula 3:3:3, with an arolium, cerci indistinct.

Distribution

Oriental Region; species of this genus are recorded from every province and autonomous region of southern China.

Summary

Kalotermes soldiers have a large rectangular head with flat sides, and stout mandibles longer than half the head whose inner margins carry several unequal teeth. Antennae number thirteen to eighteen segments with an enlarged third, and a pale eye spot lies behind the antennal fossa. The pronotum is broad and flat with a wide shallow notch. Alates have a nearly quadrangular head, sixteen to nineteen antennal segments, a very short undivided postclypeus, and projecting forewing scales longer than the pronotum.

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.