Macrotermes peritrimorphus 近三型大白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Guangxi Province: Huashuichong Forest: Hexian
- Distribution
- Guangxi (Hexian, Huashuichong) and Yunnan (Pingbian), China
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Macrotermes peritrimorphus is a species of the genus Macrotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Macrotermitinae). The species was described by Li & Xiao in 1989; the type locality is China: Guangxi Province: Huashuichong Forest: Hexian. Distribution: Guangxi (Hexian, Huashuichong) and Yunnan (Pingbian), China.
Etymology
Genus name Macrotermes: From Greek makros (large) + Latin termes, ‘large termite’.
Specific epithet peritrimorphus: Greek peri- (around) + tri- (three) + morphē (form)
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: Guangxi (Hexian, Huashuichong) and Yunnan (Pingbian), China
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
Major soldier: head, labrum, antennae and pronotum yellowish brown, abdominal tergites and legs paler, mandibles dark brown, white where the anteclypeus meets the mandibular base; about ten long setae around the anterior half of the middle of the labrum, three to four on the postclypeus, about ten in the median area of the pronotum, one long seta at each of the angular lobes of the mesonotum and metanotum. Head nearly rectangular, broader in the middle and slightly narrower behind, the posterior margin almost straight; the left mandible smooth above the middle, with minute serrations below the middle that become coarser towards the base; labrum ligulate, longer than wide, the transparent apex almost a rounded triangle and blunt; antennae with 17 segments, segment 3 slightly longer than segment 2, segment 4 almost equal to segment 2; postmentum rectangular, broader in front and narrower and parallel below the waist. Pronotum widest, the anterior margin slightly concave in the middle and the posterior margin markedly concave in the centre; mesonotum narrowest. Medium soldier paler; head oval, widest about the posterior third; mandibles rather slender and straight; posterior margin of the pronotum concave in the middle. Minor soldier even smaller, resembling the medium soldier and paler still.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
Soldiers are yellowish brown with dark brown mandibles and a white band where the mandible bases meet the head. The head is nearly oblong, widest medially, with the left mandible smooth above mid-length and finely serrate below; the labrum is longer than wide, tongue-shaped, with a blunt translucent tip. Antennae have 17 segments. The pronotum is the widest sclerite, slightly notched in front and markedly so behind. Medium and minor soldiers are paler and less hairy, with oval heads.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Huashuichong Nature Reserve, Hexian, Guangxi.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 312 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.
Literature notes
Edited notes based on the original literature, not transcriptions. The source markers in each paragraph point to archived records in .sources; full citations are listed below.
A new record for Yunnan and trimorphic soldiers
According to He Yinzhu & Liang Xingcai's (2009) study, specimens collected on 24 March 1991 at Mayihe, Pingbian, Yunnan, were reported as a new record of Macrotermes peritrimorphus for Yunnan Province; the soldiers of this species are of three sizes, major, medium and minor, the major soldier having a head 3.06 mm wide and 3.79 mm long to the mandibular base, and besides Yunnan the species also occurs in Guangxi.
References
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 peritrimorphus 近三型大白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-peritrimorphus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_macrotermes_peritrimorphus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Macrotermes peritrimorphus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-peritrimorphus/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Macrotermes peritrimorphus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-peritrimorphus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -