Genus Psammotermes · 沙白蚁属

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

Comparison with Glossotermes brings out the soldier characters of this genus: head and body with numerous long hairs; mandibles more curved, both with coarse serrations at mid-length; left mandible without an inner groove at the base, the basal part proportionally larger and the apical part smaller; the suture between the postclypeus and the frons indistinct; labrum large and broad, without a transverse pale band, the apex sharper and without a hyaline margin; postmentum relatively broader at its narrowest point; eye spots indistinct; more antennal segments; anterior margin of the pronotum without lobe-like processes; femora stouter; tibial spur formula 3:2:2. On this basis the original considers the soldier of this genus more primitive in its mandibles, antennae and tibial spur formula.

Soldier

The soldier bears numerous long hairs all over; mandibles curved, both with coarse serrations at mid-length; left mandible without an inner groove at the base; labrum large and broad, the apex pointed, without a hyaline margin; antennal segments more numerous; anterior margin of the pronotum without lobe-like processes; femora stout; tibial spur formula 3:2:2.

Sources: Emerson, A. E. 1950. Five new genera of termites from South America and Madagascar (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae, Termitidae). American Museum Novitates 1444: 1–16., p. 4 This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.