Coptotermes monosetosus 单毛乳白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Hainan Island: Yaxian County
- Distribution
- China (Yunnan)
List: English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Coptotermes monosetosus is a species of the genus Coptotermes, in the family HETEROTERMITIDAE. The species was described by Tsai & Li in 1985; the type locality is China: Hainan Island: Yaxian County. Distribution: China (Yunnan).
Etymology
Genus name Coptotermes: From Greek koptein (to cut) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet monosetosus: Greek monos (single) + Latin setosus (bristly), one-bristled
Taxonomic position
- Family: HETEROTERMITIDAE — 3 genera, 229 species
- Genus: Coptotermes — 58 species
- Type species of the genus: Coptotermes gestroi
Distribution
- Distribution records: China (Yunnan)
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: in the same colony about 90 per cent of individuals have the head longer than wide and oval, while a few are nearly circular with the width and length almost equal, differing only in the broader head and shorter postmentum, with no other obvious differences. Head, labrum, antennae and pronotum yellow, mandibles reddish brown, abdomen yellowish white. The sides of the fontanelle mostly with one bristle each, absent on one side in a few individuals; no hairs between the antennae and the fontanelle, the head almost hairless, the labrum with two apical hairs, the margin of the pronotum with only a few bristles and the disc hairless, the abdominal tergites with rather many rather long erect bristles. The elongate-oval head is widest at the basal third, the circular head widest at the middle, the lateral margins rounded out in both forms, the posterior margin rounded. Mandibles rather short and straight, their tips slightly curved; labrum distinctly longer than wide, reaching more than half the length of the closed mandibles; fontanelle tube rather short, the aperture visible in dorsal view, the fontanelle aperture nearly oval. Antennae with 14–15 segments: with 14 segments the third and fourth are almost equal, with 15 segments the third is especially short. In the elongate-oval form the waist of the postmentum lies between the widest part and the posterior margin, in the circular form the waist clearly at the posterior end, the waist in both being wider than the anterior margin. The middle of the anterior margin of the pronotum is a broad concavity, the posterior margin very indistinctly concave.
Alate
Alate: head and pronotum reddish brown, antennae yellowish brown, compound eyes purple-black, labrum and ocelli yellowish white, wings pale yellowish white. Head and pronotum bearing rather many rather long bristles, the bristles of the pronotum especially more numerous than those of the head, the body colour also deeper than that of the head.
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
About nine tenths of the soldiers have an oval head longer than wide, the rest a nearly circular head that is broader and bears a shorter postmentum. The mandibles are short and straight, the labrum clearly longer than wide and reaching beyond the middle of the closed mandibles, and the fontanelle tube short so that the pore is visible from above. The antennae have fourteen or fifteen segments. The alate is reddish brown with blackish purple eyes.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Yacheng, Hainan.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 94 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 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
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 monosetosus 单毛乳白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-monosetosus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_coptotermes_monosetosus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Coptotermes monosetosus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-monosetosus/},
note = {HETEROTERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Coptotermes monosetosus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/coptotermes-monosetosus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -