Coptotermes guangdongensis 广东乳白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Guangdong Province: Guangzhou
- Distribution
- China (Guangdong)
List: English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Coptotermes guangdongensis is a species of the genus Coptotermes, in the family HETEROTERMITIDAE. The species was described by Ping in 1985; the type locality is China: Guangdong Province: Guangzhou. Distribution: China (Guangdong). This site records 1 junior synonym for the species.
Etymology
Genus name Coptotermes: From Greek koptein (to cut) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet guangdongensis: Named after the locality Guangdong
Taxonomic position
- Family: HETEROTERMITIDAE — 3 genera, 229 species
- Genus: Coptotermes — 58 species
- Type species of the genus: Coptotermes gestroi
Distribution
- Distribution records: China (Guangdong)
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Junior synonyms
This site records 1 junior synonym for the species, listed by its original literature source:
- Coptotermes pingi Myles, 1990: 813 — type locality: China: Guangdong Province: Guangzhou
In older literature, regional checklists and database searches, this species may appear under the synonym Coptotermes pingi; this site treats it under Coptotermes guangdongensis.
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
Soldier: head yellowish brown, thorax and abdomen pale yellow. The lateral margins of the fontanelle with two pairs of hairs, the disc of the pronotum with about ten hairs. Head pear-shaped, the fontanelle aperture roundly arched, the aperture vertical in profile, rising gradually from the top of the aperture to the dorsal margin of the head, the top of the head rather flat; antennae with 14 segments (the specimen is broken); labrum spear-shaped, the apical and subapical hairs both rather long; mandibles slender and curved, the outer margin slightly constricted near the base, the left mandible about 69–70 per cent of the length of the head capsule; postmentum rather long, its surface rather flat, the waist region at about the posterior third. The concavities of the anterior and posterior margins of the pronotum are both rather distinct. Length of the hind tibia 1.10–1.15 mm.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
The soldier of Coptotermes guangdongensis has a pear-shaped head with a round-arched fontanelle whose opening is vertical in profile, the dorsal outline rising gently from the pore to the occiput. The labrum is spear-shaped with long apical and subapical setae, the mandibles are slender and curved with a slight basal constriction, and the left mandible is about seven tenths of the head length. Two pairs of setae flank the fontanelle and the pronotal margins are distinctly notched.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Guangzhou, Guangdong.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 86 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.
- Phylogeography of Coptotermes gestroi and Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Taiwan
Abstract
Abstract The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), is primarily reported from subtropical and warm temperate regions, whereas Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) is reported from many areas of the tropics. Taiwan is one of a few areas where the distributions of the two species overlap. By analyzing partial mitochondrial sequences of COII, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA, we found that most Taiwanese C. formosanus populations were closely related to Japanese and some Chinese populations and that Taiwanese C. gestroi populations were most closely related to those from the Philippines and Hawaii rather than populations from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The intraspecific variation of C. formosanus was 0.7–0.8% for three genes among seven Taiwanese populations, whereas all Taiwanese C. gestroi populations had identical sequences. The results support that Taiwan may be a center of origin for C. formosanus, but a recent introduction site for C. gestroi.
- Genetic Relationship Between Coptotermes gestroi and Coptotermes vastator (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
Abstract
The phylogenetic relationship of Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) and Coptotermes vastator Light (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) was determined using DNA sequence comparisons of mitochondrial genes. Partial sequences of the ribosomal RNA small subunit 12S, ribosomal RNA large subunit 16S, and mitochondrial COII were obtained from nine populations of C. gestroi from South East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia) and four populations of C. vastator from the Philippines and Hawaii. In addition, four populations of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Globitermes sulphureus (Haviland) were used as the outgroups. Consensus sequences were obtained and aligned. C. vastator and C. gestroi are synonymous, based on high sequence homology across the 12S, 16S, and COII genes. The interspecific pairwise sequence divergence, based on Kimura 2-parameter model between C. gestroi and C. vastator, varied only up to 0.80%. Morphometric measurements of 16 characteristics revealed numerous overlaps between the examined individuals of both species. Based on the molecular phylogenetics and morphometric data, it is proposed that C. vastator is a junior synonym of C. gestroi.
- Tunneling activity, wood consumption and survivorship of Coptotermes gestroi, Coptotermes curvignathus and Coptotermes kalshoveni (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in the laboratory
Abstract
The tunneling activity, wood consumption and survivorship of three species of subterranean termites, Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann), C. curvignathus Holmgren and C. kalshoveni Kemner were compared in the laboratory using two methods: petri dish and glass jar methods. The petri dish method consisted of a 15-cm petri dish containing 5% agar and 4 rubber wood blocks placed at positions of 0, 90, 180 and 270°. The second method consisted of a glass jar containing 200 g sand moistened with 40 ml distilled water and a piece each of rubber and pine wood on the top of the sand surface. Termites were released into the dish and jar, and allowed to tunnel freely for 28 days. At the end of the experiment, the tunneling activity was semi-quantitatively ranked, the set-up was dissembled, and termite survivorship and wood consumption rate were determined. Results suggested that C. curvignathus has the most active tunneling activity, followed by C. gestroi. On the other hand, C. kalshoveni has the least tunneling activity, but highest wood consumption rate, possibly showing a higher resource fidelity. The survivorship of the termites was >75% after the 28-day experimental period.
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 Coptotermes (57 species)
- Coptotermes acinaciformis
- Coptotermes amanii
- Coptotermes amboinensis
- Coptotermes bannaensis
- Coptotermes beckeri
- Coptotermes bentongensis
- Coptotermes boetonensis
- Coptotermes brunneus
- Coptotermes ceylonicus
- Coptotermes chaoxianensis
- Coptotermes cooloola
- Coptotermes curvignathus
- Coptotermes cyclocoryphus
- Coptotermes dimorphus
- Coptotermes dobonicus
- Coptotermes dreghorni
- Coptotermes elisae
- Coptotermes emersoni
- Coptotermes formosanus
- Coptotermes frenchi
- Coptotermes fumipennis
- Coptotermes gambrinus
- Coptotermes gaurii
- Coptotermes gestroi
- Coptotermes grandiceps
- Coptotermes grandis
- Coptotermes gulangyuensis
- Coptotermes hainanensis
- Coptotermes intermedius
- Coptotermes kalshoveni
- Coptotermes kishori
- Coptotermes lacteus
- Coptotermes longignathus
- Coptotermes longistriatus
- Coptotermes mauricianus
- Coptotermes melanoistriatus
- Coptotermes menadoae
- Coptotermes michaelseni
- Coptotermes minutissimus
- Coptotermes monosetosus
57 species in this genus. See all species on the genus page →
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: Coptotermes guangdongensis 广东乳白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-guangdongensis/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_coptotermes_guangdongensis_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Coptotermes guangdongensis: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-guangdongensis/},
note = {HETEROTERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Coptotermes guangdongensis: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-guangdongensis/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -