Ancistrotermes xiai 夏氏钩白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Yunnan Province: Mengla County: Menglun
- Distribution
- Yunnan (Mengla, Menglun 600m)
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Ancistrotermes xiai is a species of the genus Ancistrotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Macrotermitinae). The species was described by Zhu & Huang in 1991; the type locality is China: Yunnan Province: Mengla County: Menglun. Distribution: Yunnan (Mengla, Menglun 600m).
Etymology
Genus name Ancistrotermes: From Greek ankistron (hook) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet xiai: Named after the Chinese termite taxonomist Kailing Xia.
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Macrotermitinae — 12 genera, 373 species
- Genus: Ancistrotermes — 16 species
- Type species of the genus: Ancistrotermes crucifer
Distribution
- Distribution records: Yunnan (Mengla, Menglun 600m)
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
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 deep yellow, mandibles reddish brown with the basal part nearly the same colour as the head, labrum darker than the head, antennae pale yellow tinged with smoky, pronotum and abdomen pale yellow, legs milk-white. Head with scattered long hairs; labrum with a pair of apical hairs and, from the tip of the labrum to the middle, three to four pairs of hairs in longitudinal rows on each side; the margin of the pronotum with long and short hairs alternating. Head nearly obovate, widest from behind the antennal carinae to before the middle of the head, the posterior margin slightly arcuate outwards; labrum tongue-shaped, its front bluntly rounded. Mandibles rather thick and straight, their front curved inwards, each with a marginal tooth-granule towards the front of the middle, and a denticle at the side of the basal tooth, the right denticle larger than the left. Postmentum raised, rounded spoon-shaped. Antennae with 15 segments, the third shortest. The anterior half of the pronotum upturned, slightly concave in the middle, the posterior margin nearly straight. Small soldier: head pale yellow, labrum yellow, mandibles reddish brown with the basal part the same colour as the head; antennae, pronotum, abdomen and legs all paler than in the large soldier; the shape of the head, the mandibles and the features of the pronotum similar to those of the large soldier.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
Ancistrotermes xiai is a dimorphic species. Major soldiers are deep yellow with a nearly obovate head widest between the antennal ridges and the mid-length, a tongue-shaped labrum, and stout, straight mandibles that curve inward at the tip; each carries a marginal denticle in front of the middle and a small tooth beside the basal tooth, the right one larger. Antennae have 15 segments, the third shortest. Minor soldiers are notably paler but share the same head, mandible and pronotal characters.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 600 m above sea level.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 350 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.
Distribution map
No GBIF record with coordinates was found for this species.
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.
- Chemical Defence in the Termite Ancistrotermes cavithorax
Abstract
- A Termitomyces on the fungus stones of an African Ancistrotermes.
Abstract
- Chemical defence in the termite Ancistrotermes cavithorax: ancistrodial and ancistrofuran
Abstract
Soldiers of the termite Ancistrotermes cavithorax produce terpenoid defence secretions, but whereas the minor soldiers produce ancistrodial (1) exclusively, the major soldiers secrete ancistrofuran (6), together with (4) and (5).
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.
Other species in Ancistrotermes (15 species)
- Ancistrotermes cavithorax
- Ancistrotermes crassiceps
- Ancistrotermes crucifer
- Ancistrotermes dimorphus
- Ancistrotermes dubius
- Ancistrotermes equatorius
- Ancistrotermes ganlanbaensis
- Ancistrotermes guineensis
- Ancistrotermes hekouensis
- Ancistrotermes latinotus
- Ancistrotermes menglianensis
- Ancistrotermes microdens
- Ancistrotermes pakistanicus
- Ancistrotermes periphrasis
- Ancistrotermes wasmanni
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: Ancistrotermes xiai 夏氏钩白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ancistrotermes-xiai/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_ancistrotermes_xiai_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Ancistrotermes xiai: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ancistrotermes-xiai/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Ancistrotermes xiai: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ancistrotermes-xiai/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -