Amalotermes phaeocephalus 暗头软白蚁
- Type locality
- Nigeria: Eastern Region: 40 mi from Port Harcourt on Owerri Road
- Distribution
- Central Africa, Congo Basin, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Gabon, Nigeria
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Amalotermes phaeocephalus is the only extant species of the genus Amalotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Apicotermitinae). The species was described by Sands in 1972; the type locality is Nigeria: Eastern Region: 40 mi from Port Harcourt on Owerri Road. Distribution: Central Africa, Congo Basin, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Gabon, Nigeria.
Etymology
Genus name Amalotermes: Etymology uncertain; -termes from Latin termes.
Specific epithet phaeocephalus: From the descriptive term ‘phae’ (brown)
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Apicotermitinae — 68 genera, 241 species
- Genus: Amalotermes — monotypic, 1 species
Distribution
- Distribution records: Central Africa, Congo Basin, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Gabon, Nigeria
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Morphology
The description below is paraphrased from the original or a later revision, by caste; the source is cited at the end.
Diagnostic characters
Monotypic genus with a peculiar combination of characters, possessing features regarded as both primitive and specialised, and difficult to place in any known genus; the conventional conclusion is also confirmed by multivariate analysis. The enteric valve spines somewhat resemble those of Alyscotermes, but the worker of this genus has a small, brown head and the enteric valve spines are almost radially symmetrical.
Worker
Medium-sized, W 0.74–0.79 mm. Fore tibia slender, Ti/Tw 6.14–6.43, with 3 apical spurs, but the third reduced, almost disappearing in most specimens. Mandibular apical tooth short, La/Li 0.41–0.51, Ra/Ri 0.53–0.66; the proximal end of the left accessory marginal tooth hidden behind the molar prominence in surface view; right marginal tooth 1 with the anterior margin distinctly shorter than that of marginal tooth 2. The midgut–hindgut overlap is about twice the midgut width at the insertion of the Malpighian tubules and extends to half of the Malpighian knot. Enteric valve seat weakly bilobed, joined by a short neck to the second hindgut pouch, lateral in the unopened abdomen; enteric valve inner pads of about equal development, the distal part with conspicuous coarse spines protruding from the valve opening.
Alate
Medium-sized, W 0.81–0.90 mm. Fore tibia with 3 apical spurs, but the third reduced, almost disappearing in some specimens. Mandibular apical tooth short, La/Li 0.38–0.48, Ra/Ri 0.56–0.65; the proximal end of the left accessory marginal tooth hidden behind the molar prominence; right marginal tooth 1 with the anterior margin about equal to that of marginal tooth 2, its apex slightly behind the line joining the apical tooth and marginal tooth 2. Meso- and metanotal plates relatively broad at the constriction, M/W 0.25–0.28, transverse suture distinct and usually clear.
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.
Distribution map
Aggregated from GBIF occurrence records on a 1° grid; only extant taxa of this checklist are used, so fossil records are excluded. Dot size and shade show the number of records inside a cell.
Related papers
Cached papers for this genus (matched automatically, for reference); to search this species with its junior synonyms merged in, use the literature search.
- A pilot analysis of gut contents in termites from the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve, Cameroon
Abstract
Gut content analysis was carried out on eight species of higher termites representing the four included subfamilies and notional soil‐feeding and wood‐feeding forms. A lower termite species feeding on wood was also examined. Pooled homogenates equivalent in volume to twenty hindguts of Thoracotermes macrothorax were diluted, stained and scored present/absent in 500 haemacytometer fields for ten content item categories: macerated organic material, lignified tissue, plant tissue fragments, fungal mycelium, arthropod parts, plant roots, safranin +ve, gentian violet +ve, humus and silica. For interspecific comparisons, the occurrence of each category was expressed as a proportion of the total haemacytometer cells examined. A hierarchical classification of the species, based on gut contents, was prepared using a two‐way indicator species analysis, and suggested the following rank order of species along a hypothetical humification gradient (soil to sound wood): Thoracotermes macrothorax, Astalotermes quietus (both soil‐feeders), Termes hospes, Amalotermes phaecocephalus, Pseudacanthotermes militaris, Microtermes congoensis, Nasutitermes lujae, Microcerotermes parvus, Schedorhinotermes putorius (all notional wood‐feeders). Arthropod parts, silica and humus were identified as indicator factors. It is proposed that wood‐feeding forms can be subdivided into a group consuming some silica and humus (five species: humified wood‐feeders) and a second group of sound wood‐feeders (two species). Pianka's equations for diet breadth and diet overlap were also applied to the data. These identified Microtermes congoensis, Schedorhinotermes putorius and Pseudacanthotermes militaris as the most specialized feeders, i.e. that they can extract their nutrients from the least heterogenous substrates.
Papers on this species, synonyms included → OpenAlex Google Scholar CNKI
Abstracts come from open metadata; copyright remains with the original authors/publishers. For reference only — please check the original.
Cite this species
Citation strings are generated from the fields of this page; please keep the DOI and the version number when citing.
GB/T 7714
班奈特格林. Extant Isoptera (termites): a checklist of Latin and Chinese names: Amalotermes phaeocephalus 暗头软白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/amalotermes-phaeocephalus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_amalotermes_phaeocephalus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Amalotermes phaeocephalus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/amalotermes-phaeocephalus/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Amalotermes phaeocephalus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/amalotermes-phaeocephalus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -