Acidnotermes praus Sands, 1972 短肠虚白蚁

Morphology

The description below is paraphrased from the original or a later revision, by caste; the source is cited at the end.

Diagnostic characters

Small body size, in combination with mandible morphology, distinguishes it from all other genera. Closely related to Astalotermes, especially A. comis; but the position of the left accessory marginal tooth and the markedly shorter gut of the worker recall more primitive groups, and numerical taxonomy also places it far apart. Body size overlaps only with that of Anenteotermes nanus, but the latter differs in the mandibles of both castes, and its worker has a long mixed segment and a spiny enteric valve.

Worker

Very small, W 0.48–0.57 mm. Fore tibia moderately inflated, Ti/Tw 3.46–3.94, with 3 apical spurs, the third almost as large as the other two. Mandibular apical tooth short, La/Li 0.48–0.54, Ra/Ri 0.60–0.68; the proximal end of the left accessory marginal tooth is hidden behind the molar prominence in surface view; right mandible proportions as in the alate but the molar plate larger. Midgut–hindgut junction simple, nearly transverse, without overlap, the midgut short, the Malpighian tubules inserted at exactly half its length; first hindgut segment slightly longer than the midgut, slightly inflated, narrowing towards the enteric valve; enteric valve seat a simple rim, sessile, attached to the second hindgut pouch, lateral in the unopened abdomen; enteric valve inner pads without spines, the scales weak.

Alate

Very small, W 0.57–0.66 mm. Fore tibia with 3 apical spurs, the third well developed, about 2/3 the length of the other two. Mandibular apical tooth short, La/Li 0.50–0.56, Ra/Ri 0.62–0.71; the proximal end of the left accessory marginal tooth exactly level with the margin of the molar prominence; right mandibular apical tooth in line with the marginal tooth apices, but marginal tooth 2 broad, its anterior margin longer than that of marginal tooth 1. Meso- and metanotal plates narrow at the constriction, M/W 0.21; transverse suture weak but present.

This genus is monotypic, containing only this species; the following is the genus-level description based on the original literature; species-level measurements and intraspecific variation are given in the original.