Ancistrotermes dimorphus Tsai & Chen, 1963 小头钩白蚁

Recorded in Fauna Sinica

The morphological and biological accounts below are taken from Fauna Sinica and related literature; only structure and punctuation have been standardized here.

Morphology

Soldier

Head yellow, mandibles reddish brown with the basal part the same colour as the head, abdomen pale yellow. The anterior margin of the labrum with a few long hairs. Head between round and square, widest in front, the lateral and posterior margins slightly arcuate, the posterolateral angles rounded, the dorsum of the head raised like a hump. Labrum narrowly triangular, nearly as long as wide, its front bluntly rounded; the front of the mandibles curved inwards, each mandible with a basal tooth at its base, and a minute tooth-granule in front of the basal tooth of the right mandible. Antennae with 15 segments, rarely 16; the second shorter than the third and fourth together, the third slightly shorter than the fourth. Anterior part of the pronotum slightly raised, the anterior and posterior margins concave in the middle. Small soldier: body and head colour as in the large soldier, abdomen greyish white and opaque, the whole body covered with scattered short hairs, the morphology of all parts resembling that of the large soldier.

Alate

The posterior part of the head deep yellowish brown, mottled with small pale spots; antennae, labrum, postclypeus and legs pale yellow; thorax and abdominal tergites pale yellowish brown, wings brownish yellow. The whole body densely covered with short hairs, the short hairs evenly distributed over the wing membrane. Head nearly round; compound eyes protruding and very large, ocelli large, elongate-oval, the distance between ocellus and compound eye less than half the width of the ocellus; the front of the labrum broadly rounded, its tip and lateral margins transparent; postclypeus raised very high, about half as long as wide. Antennae with 18 segments, the third and fourth shortest, the fifth and sixth shorter than the second. Pronotum broad in front and narrow behind, the anterior and posterior margins concave in the middle; the posterior margin of the mesonotum deeply concave. Forewing: media arising independently at the humeral suture, between the radial sector and the cubitus, the distal few branches indistinct, the cubitus with more than ten branches; hindwing: media arising from the radial sector behind the humeral suture, the rest of the venation as in the forewing.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Tingliang, Chongzuo and Longzhou, Guangxi; Hekou (90 m), Mengla, Jinping (380–510 m), Daweishan, Pingbian (1200 m), Qinglongchang, Yuanjiang and Jinghong (500 m), Yunnan.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 346 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.