Genus Periaciculitermes · 近针白蚁属

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) (the genus-level account of Periaciculitermes in the original book, reorganised and rewritten); the source keys and measurement tables are not reproduced here.

Morphology

Key characters

Soldier head oval, narrow anteriorly and broad posteriorly, the dorsum with short hairs, widest at about one third of the head from the posterior margin, posterior margin slightly arcuate with the middle a little flattened; nasus straight, slender and elongate, slightly raised behind its base; mandibles bluntly convex, without sharp teeth; antennae 12-segmented.

Soldier

Soldier head with short hairs mixed with a few long setae. Head oval, anteriorly narrow and posteriorly broad, widest at about one third from the posterior margin of the head, the posterior margin slightly arcuate and rounded but flatter at the middle; in lateral view the junction between the posterior margin of the nasus base and the head capsule is slightly raised. Nasus straight, tubular and slender. Mandibles bluntly convex, without sharp teeth. Antennae 12-segmented. Tibial spur formula 2:2:2, tarsi 4-segmented.

Worker

The apical tooth of the worker left mandible is distinctly larger than the first marginal tooth; the second marginal tooth is reduced and fused with the posterior cutting edge of the first marginal tooth; the third marginal tooth is very small, its anterior cutting edge meeting the posterior cutting edge of the first marginal tooth at an acute angle. Tibial spur formula 2:2:2, tarsi 4-segmented.

Distribution

Oriental region; a tropical and subtropical element, recorded from southern China.

Summary

Periaciculitermes soldiers bear short hairs and a few long setae. The head is oval, narrow in front and broad behind, widest about one third of the way from the occiput, its posterior margin arcuate with a flattened middle. The nasus is straight, slender and tubular, and the mandibles are blunt without points. Antennae are 12-segmented; tibial spurs are 2:2:2 and tarsi four-segmented. Workers have a reduced second marginal tooth on the left mandible. The genus is Oriental.

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.