Genus Planicapritermes · 平扭白蚁属

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

A group of Neotropical Termitinae soldiers with asymmetrical snapping mandibles. Most closely related to Neocapritermes and possibly derived from it: the worker–alate mandibles of the two are completely identical (the alate of this genus is unknown, so the alate cannot be compared); the soldier resembles Neocapritermes, but the head is extremely flattened, the posterior margin trilobed, the antennae 14-segmented (15–16 in the latter), the pronotum far narrower than the head, and the tibial spur formula 2:2:2 (3:2:2 in the latter, only N. bodkini 2:2:2).

Soldier

Head and pronotum with moderate setae. Head extremely flattened, the sides convergent anteriorly; posterior margin trilobed, the median lobe not very prominent; fontanelle small and round; frontal gland absent. Labrum asymmetrical, curved around or enveloping the mandibular bases, tongue-shaped, the sides convergent anteriorly to a blunt apex. Mandibles asymmetrical: left mandible strongly curved at mid-length, the base thick, the outer region with ridges and concavities, the anterior region spatulate, the apex blunt, the inner basal region with a tooth-like process fitting into the corresponding notch of the right mandible; right mandible straight. Antennae 14-segmented. Pronotum far narrower than the head, the anterior lobe very slightly upturned. Tibial spur formula 2:2:2; mid tibia without spines.

Worker

Mandibles as in Fig. 46: left mandible with a small apical tooth, a long posterior margin behind the fused 1st+2nd marginal teeth, and a well-developed 3rd marginal tooth; right mandible with a straight posterior margin behind the 2nd marginal tooth and an acute angle between the 1st and 2nd marginal teeth.

Sources: Krishna K. 1968. Phylogeny and generic reclassification of the Capritermes complex (Isoptera, Termitidae, Termitinae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 138: 263–323., pp. 317–319（Planicapritermes 属征：Imago 未知、Soldier 与 Worker） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.