Cryptotermes domesticus Haviland, 1898 截头堆砂白蚁

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

The anterior part of the head pitch-black, gradually turning reddish brown backwards; mandibles pure black, the first and second antennal segments brown, the remaining segments pale yellow; thorax and abdomen pale yellow, the anterior half of the pronotum tinged with brownish yellow. The head capsule thick and nearly square, the lateral margins parallel, the posterior end rounded, the front forming a vertical truncate face whose surface is uneven; the margin of the face slightly raised, its top with a notch concave backwards in the middle, the angle between the face and the mandibles less than ninety degrees in profile. The top of the head and the upper sides uneven, smoother near the back of the head and on the lower sides. A stout forward-projecting process on the lower margin of the antennal socket, and another smaller conical process facing forwards above the inside of the socket, the compound eye situated directly behind the antennal socket. Mandibles short, broad and flat, their ends pointed and upturned, the inner margin with three to four widely separated notches forming low flat teeth. Labrum short and small, semicircular. Antennae with 12–14 segments, the second about half the first, the third shorter than the second, the fourth shortest and often disc-shaped, the following segments gradually longer, moniliform. The median notch of the anterior margin of the pronotum broad and deep, upturned forwards and often covering the back of the head, with a transverse groove behind the notch, the posterior margin of the pronotum rounded.

Alate

Head dull yellow, thorax, abdomen, legs and antennae pale yellow, wing scales and veins dull yellow, the membranous wings transparent and colourless. Head rectangular, compound eyes small, ocelli situated above and immediately adjacent to them; anteclypeus about twice the length of the postclypeus; antennae with 16 segments, the third, fourth and fifth equal to one another and slightly shorter than the second; a pale spot above each antennal socket, larger than the ocellus. Pronotum as wide as the head or slightly wider, the middle of both the anterior and posterior margins concave inwards. Forewing scale distinctly larger than the hindwing scale and covering part of the latter. Forewing vein Ss extremely short or absent, R reaching about one-third of the wing length, Rs with 7–8 branches; M arising independently at the humeral suture, before the middle of the wing closer to Cu than to Rs, thereafter turning forwards and joining Rs at three-quarters or two-thirds of the wing length. Hindwing vein R extending beyond one-third of the wing length, to about one-half, Rs with about 5–6 branches, M arising from the base of Rs behind the humeral suture, the rest as in the forewing.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

In China recorded from Nanning, Guangxi; Xuwen and Zhanjiang, Guangdong; Hekou, Yunnan; Wanning, Wenchang, Baoting, Yaxian, Danxian, Haikou, Chengmai and Fushan, Hainan; and Taiwan. Abroad distributed in India, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia (Sumatra, Kalimantan), Singapore, and in the Pacific region the Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Fiji Islands, Fanning Island and the Marquesas Islands.

Taxonomic notes

The original work gives Cryptotermes domesticus (in which the character for termite was misprinted as that for mosquito); the scientific name agrees with the page on this site, and no synonymy has been applied.

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 4 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.