Genus Porotermes · 洞白蚁属
Filter the taxa recorded under this genus by name and locality; for the whole site use the full-text search.
Distribution map
Photographs 81 photos · 3 species
Freely licensed photos; click to enlarge. This preview shows 6 photos; to browse by species, open “All photos”. Photos are hotlinked from iNaturalist / Wikimedia Commons; the rights stay with the photographers.
About the genus
This genus belongs to the family Stolotermitidae 胄白蚁科; the site records 3 species.
Type species: Porotermes quadricollis.
This page includes a distribution map for the genus (GBIF records aggregated on a 1° grid); open a species entry to see its type locality, distribution, and references.
Etymology
From Greek poros (pore, passage) + Latin termes.
The etymologies in this section are analytical breakdowns; the roots follow Brown (1956).
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
The key to the genera of the subfamily given in the original: an alate without ocelli, without an empodium (the pad between the claws) and with 5-segmented cerci belongs to this genus, whereas one with ocelli, with an empodium and with 2-segmented cerci belongs to Calotermes; a soldier with long, 5-segmented cerci belongs to this genus, and one with short, 2-segmented cerci to Calotermes. The soldier is easily confused with Stolotermes, but the latter is smaller, with a flatter head and body, a small heart-shaped pronotum, and eyes bearing ommatidia.
Alate
Ocelli absent; empodium absent; cerci 5-segmented. Species level (P. adamsoni): antennae 15 to 17 segments; body length with wings 14–15 mm, body length 7–8 mm.
Soldier
Cerci long, 5-segmented. Species level (P. adamsoni): antennae 16 to 18 segments; mandibles stout, the tooth formula the same in the three species; pronotum about 1.5 times as wide as the head.
Worker
The subfamily has no true worker caste; the worker function is performed by immature stages of the alate (and possibly of the soldier); the generic characters of this worker-nymph are the same as those of the soldier.
Sources: Hill, G. F. 1926. The genus Porotermes (Isoptera). Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, N.S. 38: 143–149., p. 144 (检索表、与 Stolotermes 对比、工蚁品级说明) This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.
Species (3)
Parent level: Checklist index · Stolotermitidae 胄白蚁科 · Data & downloads