Echinotermes biriba 比里巴多刺白蚁
- Type locality
- Colombia: Caquetá, Belén de los Andaquíes [ 1.60794N 75.8868W ]
- Distribution
- South America, Colombia, Peru
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Echinotermes biriba is the only extant species of the genus Echinotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Apicotermitinae). The species was described by Castro & Scheffrahn in 2020; the type locality is Colombia: Caquetá, Belén de los Andaquíes [ 1.60794N 75.8868W ]. Distribution: South America, Colombia, Peru.
Etymology
Genus name Echinotermes: From Greek echinos (hedgehog, spine) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet biriba: Tupi vernacular name biriba (a tree/fruit)
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Apicotermitinae — 68 genera, 241 species
- Genus: Echinotermes — monotypic, 1 species
Distribution
- Distribution records: South America, Colombia, Peru
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Morphology
The description below is paraphrased from the original or a later revision, by caste; the source is cited at the end.
Diagnostic characters
The crop is unusually large, and the enteric valve consists of 6 globular comb-like cushions whose ends are spinous spheres; this combination is unique among the genera of the Apicotermitinae.
Worker
Monotypic; the head and antennae are pale yellow, the pronotum pale yellow and the legs transparent. The crop is very large; the EVS is trilobed, the smaller lobe being invisible in the intact gut; the enteric valve has 6 cushions whose ends form spinous spheres at the opening into P3.
This genus is monotypic, containing only this species; the following is the genus-level description based on the original literature; species-level measurements and intraspecific variation are given in the original.
Photos 2 photos
Freely licensed photos, click to enlarge. Hotlinked from iNaturalist / Wikimedia Commons; the rights stay with the photographers — author, licence and source page are shown under each photo.
Distribution map
Aggregated from GBIF occurrence records on a 1° grid; only extant taxa of this checklist are used, so fossil records are excluded. Dot size and shade show the number of records inside a cell.
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.
- Echinotermes biriba, a new genus and species of soldierless termite from the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon (Termitidae, Apicotermitinae)
Abstract
A new Apicotermitinae genus and speciesEchinotermesbiribais described from workers collected on the Andean-Amazon Piedmont in Colombia and Peru. The enteric valve armature ofEchinotermesbiribaCastro & Scheffrahn,gen. et sp. n.is a remarkably diagnostic character. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis using the COI gene and including all other Neotropical Apicotermitinae genera, supports the new genus as a distinct terminal.
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.
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: Echinotermes biriba 比里巴多刺白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/echinotermes-biriba/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_echinotermes_biriba_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Echinotermes biriba: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/echinotermes-biriba/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Echinotermes biriba: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/echinotermes-biriba/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -