Genus Velocitermes · 快白蚁属

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

Alate with compound eyes at the sides of the head, relatively small but strongly projecting, clypeus mostly concolorous with the frons or only slightly paler, head mostly oval with a well-developed occiput, antennal segments more or less elongate, 1st tooth of the left mandible about as long as the 2nd; soldier with two size classes (corresponding to the medium and small soldiers of Diversitermes), mandibles with an apical process, antennae 14-segmented, legs long. Holmgren considers the genus undoubtedly closely related to Diversitermes, very probably derived from an originally trimorphic subgenus whose largest soldier morph has been lost, while the alate has a more elongate head, smaller and more projecting compound eyes, and has shifted in life history to diurnal habits, migrating and storing food by means of its long legs. Sands (1965) places this genus together with Tenuirostritermes and Diversitermes in a predominantly Neotropical branch.

Alate

1st tooth of the left mandible about as long as the 2nd; clypeus about as long as half its width or slightly shorter, often dark, mostly the same colour as the frons or only slightly paler; compound eyes at the sides of the head, relatively small, strongly projecting; head mostly oval, occiput well developed; antennal segments more or less elongate.

Soldier

Two size classes of soldier, corresponding respectively to the medium and small soldiers of Diversitermes; mandibles with an apical process; antennae 14-segmented; legs long (Tafel III, Fig. 27 a, b). Here the key additionally uses the basal part of the worker anteclypeus being about as long as half its width as an auxiliary condition, but the original text gives no worker description.

Sources: Holmgren, N. 1912. Termitenstudien. 3. Systematik der Termiten. Die Familie Termitidae, Isoptera. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar, 48(4): 59–62, 68–72., p. 60（有翅成虫检索表 ee/d），p. 61–62（兵蚁检索表 cc），p. 71（系统学讨论） This text is an adaptation, not a verbatim transcription of the original.