Coptotermes gulangyuensis 鼓浪屿乳白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Fujian Province: Gulangyu Isl., Xiamen
- Distribution
- China (Fujian)
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Coptotermes gulangyuensis is a species of the genus Coptotermes, in the family HETEROTERMITIDAE. The species was described by Li & Huang in 1986; the type locality is China: Fujian Province: Gulangyu Isl., Xiamen. Distribution: China (Fujian).
Etymology
Genus name Coptotermes: From Greek koptein (to cut) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet gulangyuensis: Named after the locality Gulangyu
Taxonomic position
- Family: HETEROTERMITIDAE — 3 genera, 229 species
- Genus: Coptotermes — 58 species
- Type species of the genus: Coptotermes gestroi
Distribution
- Distribution records: China (Fujian)
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
Soldier: the head shape varies markedly, two forms, elongate-oval and nearly circular, occurring in the same colony, elongate-oval individuals making up about 80 per cent. In circular individuals the head is short and broad and the postmentum distinctly shorter, the remaining characters differing little. Head, antennae and labrum pale yellow, the antennal carinae and fontanelle tube reddish brown, mandibles reddish brown, legs and abdomen pale white. The head with scattered long and short hairs, the sides of the fontanelle with two long bristles each; the labrum, besides two apical hairs, often with lateral-apical hairs and disc hairs; the pronotum with more bristles than the head, the bristles of the abdominal tergites rather dense. The elongate-oval head is mostly widest at the basal third, the circular head widest at the middle. Fontanelle aperture oval, projecting as a short tube, the aperture not visible in dorsal view, in profile slightly approaching vertical. Mandibles sickle-shaped, their tips curved inwards, the base of the left mandible with three to four serrations, increasing in size from front to back. Labrum like an equilateral triangle, slightly longer than wide or almost equal, its transparent tip projecting as a point. Antennae with 15–16 segments, mostly 15, the third short and small. In the elongate-oval form the postmentum is rather short, the waist between the widest part and the posterior margin; in the circular form the postmentum is shorter still and the waist near the posterior end. The middle of the anterior margin of the pronotum is slightly concave, the middle of the posterior margin indistinctly concave.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
The soldier head is markedly variable within a colony, about eighty per cent of individuals being long-oval and the rest nearly round, the round form having a shorter and broader head and a shorter postmentum. The labrum is almost an equilateral triangle with a punctiform transparent tip, the left mandible carries three or four basal denticles that enlarge backwards, and the fontanelle protrudes as a short tube. The antennae have fifteen or sixteen segments.
Biology
Host: Taiwan acacia.
Distribution and locality
Gulangyu, Xiamen and Quanzhou, Fujian.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 88 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 guangdongensis
- 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 gulangyuensis 鼓浪屿乳白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-gulangyuensis/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_coptotermes_gulangyuensis_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Coptotermes gulangyuensis: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-gulangyuensis/},
note = {HETEROTERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Coptotermes gulangyuensis: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-gulangyuensis/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -