Macrotermes orthognathus 直颚大白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Guizhou Province: Xingyi County
- Distribution
- Guizhou, China, Xingyi
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Macrotermes orthognathus is a species of the genus Macrotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Macrotermitinae). The species was described by Ping & Xu in 1985; the type locality is China: Guizhou Province: Xingyi County. Distribution: Guizhou, China, Xingyi.
Etymology
Genus name Macrotermes: From Greek makros (large) + Latin termes, ‘large termite’.
Specific epithet orthognathus: Greek orthos (straight) + gnathos (jaw), straight-jawed
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Macrotermitinae — 12 genera, 373 species
- Genus: Macrotermes — 57 species
- Type species of the genus: Macrotermes lilljeborgi
Distribution
- Distribution records: Guizhou, China, Xingyi
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
Body yellow tinged with brown overall, legs slightly paler. Minor soldier: head oval, 1.2 to 1.4 times as long as wide, fontanelle behind the midpoint, in lateral view the dorsal margin of the head slightly arched and the postmentum markedly projecting; mandibles slender, reaching more than two thirds of the head capsule in length, the apex slender and straight, the inner margin of the left mandible with fine teeth from the midpoint onwards; antennae with 17 segments; postmentum a narrow band, the sides nearly parallel. Anterior and posterior margins of the pronotum shallowly concave, the lateral lobes of the prothorax and metathorax not markedly angular, the sides of the mesonotum nearly parallel; hind tibia longer than the head width.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
The body is yellowish tinged with brown and the legs are paler. The minor soldier has an oval head one and a fifth to one and two-fifths times as long as wide, the fontanelle behind mid-length and the postmentum projecting below. Mandibles are slender, straight and pointed, more than two-thirds the length of the head capsule, the left finely toothed behind mid-length; antennae have 17 segments and the postmentum is a narrow band. The pronotum is shallowly excised on both margins and the hind tibia exceeds the head width.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Xingyi, Guizhou.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 311 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.
- Intraspecific colony recognition in the termites Macrotermes subhyalinus and Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Termitidae)
Abstract
- Ecdysone and ecdysterone in physogastric termite queens and eggs of Macrotermes bellicosus and Macrotermes subhyalinus
Abstract
- The mound-building termite Macrotermes michaelseni as an ecosystem engineer
Abstract
Many organisms create or alter resource flows that affect the composition and spatial arrangement of current and future organismal diversity. The phenomenon called ecosystem engineering is considered with a case study of the mound building termite Macrotermes michaelseni. It is argued that this species acts as an ecosystem engineer across a range of spatial scales, from alteration of local infiltration rates to the creation of landscape mosaics, and that its impacts accrue because of the initiation of biophysical processes that often include feedback mechanisms. These changes to resource flows are likely to persist for long periods and constrain the biological structure of the habitat. The value of ecosystem engineering is discussed as a holistic way of understanding the complexity of tropical ecology.
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 Macrotermes (56 species)
- Macrotermes acrocephalus
- Macrotermes ahmadi
- Macrotermes aleemi
- Macrotermes amplus
- Macrotermes annandalei
- Macrotermes barneyi
- Macrotermes beaufortensis
- Macrotermes bellicosus
- Macrotermes carbonarius
- Macrotermes chaiglomi
- Macrotermes chebalingensis
- Macrotermes choui
- Macrotermes constrictus
- Macrotermes convulsionarius
- Macrotermes declivatus
- Macrotermes denticulatus
- Macrotermes falciger
- Macrotermes gilvus
- Macrotermes gratus
- Macrotermes guangxiensis
- Macrotermes hainanensis
- Macrotermes herus
- Macrotermes hopini
- Macrotermes incisus
- Macrotermes ituriensis
- Macrotermes ivorensis
- Macrotermes jinghongensis
- Macrotermes khajuriai
- Macrotermes latignathus
- Macrotermes lilljeborgi
- Macrotermes longiceps
- Macrotermes longimentis
- Macrotermes luokengensis
- Macrotermes maesodensis
- Macrotermes malaccensis
- Macrotermes meidoensis
- Macrotermes menglongensis
- Macrotermes michaelseni
- Macrotermes natalensis
- Macrotermes niger
56 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: Macrotermes orthognathus 直颚大白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-orthognathus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_macrotermes_orthognathus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Macrotermes orthognathus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-orthognathus/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Macrotermes orthognathus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-orthognathus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -