Cryptotermes declivis Tsai & Chen, 1963 铲头堆砂白蚁

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 black in front, dark red behind, antennae, thorax and abdomen pale yellow. Head short and thick, nearly square; the frons is not vertically truncate but forms an inclined slope, the angle between the slope and the mandibles distinctly greater than a right angle. Raised frontal ridges border the slope on both sides and above, the space between the ridges concave in the middle, so that the frons is divided into left and right halves; the rest of the head smooth, the wrinkles inconspicuous. A large shallow pit in the middle of the top of the head. A stout process projects forwards above and another below the inside of each antennal socket, the upper conical, the lower flattened, the two of similar size. The posterior part of the labrum transverse, its anterior part with the two margins converging into a triangle. Antennae with 11–15 segments; the eye situated on the side wall behind the antennal socket. Mandibles short and small, flat and broad, the middle of the left mandible with two low large teeth, the first slightly oblique forwards, the second facing inwards, the two teeth of the right mandible facing forwards and situated slightly further back. The pronotum about as wide as the head, the middle of the anterior margin deeply concave in a broad V, the lateral angles projecting forwards and slightly upturned, covering the back of the head, the middle of the posterior margin slightly concave forwards.

Alate

Head reddish brown, antennae, maxillary palps and labrum brownish yellow, thorax, abdomen and femora blackish brown, tibiae and tarsi pale yellow, wings yellowish brown. Head nearly rectangular, the sides parallel, the posterior margin arcuate. Compound eyes small, nearly circular; ocelli elongate-round, situated above the compound eyes, close to them but not touching. Postclypeus a short transverse band, its boundary with the frons indistinct, not raised, its anterior margin straight; anteclypeus trapezoidal. Antennae with 14–16 segments, the second, third and fourth of about equal length, or the second and third about equal and the fourth shorter. Pronotum as wide as the head, the anterior margin concave, the middle of the posterior margin slightly concave. Fore- and hindwing scales unequal in size, the anterior scale covering the posterior. In the forewing the subcosta extremely short, the radius reaching about one-third of the wing length, the radial sector extending to the wing tip and connected with the anterior margin by about seven short branches from base to tip; the media arising independently at the humeral suture, at first close to the cubitus, turning at one-half to three-quarters of the wing length and joining the radial sector, the cubitus with more than ten branches in all.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Recorded from Zhejiang, Yunxiao in Fujian, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan; localities in Guangdong include Chaozhou, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Foshan, Xinhui, Longgangzui in Taishan, Ruyuan, Lianshan, Dinghu and Xiqiaoshan.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 3 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.