Macrotermes trapezoides 梯头大白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Guangdong Province: Hainan Island: Ya County
- Distribution
- Hainan (Yaxian) and Yunnan (Baoshan), China
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Macrotermes trapezoides 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: Guangdong Province: Hainan Island: Ya County. Distribution: Hainan (Yaxian) and Yunnan (Baoshan), China.
Etymology
Genus name Macrotermes: From Greek makros (large) + Latin termes, ‘large termite’.
Specific epithet trapezoides: Greek trapezion (trapezium) + -oides (like), trapezoid
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: Hainan (Yaxian) and Yunnan (Baoshan), 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 brown tinged with red, thoracic and abdominal tergites yellowish brown. Head trapezoidal, length about 1.3 times the width, the posterior margin nearly straight; fontanelle in front of the midpoint, in lateral view the dorsal margin of the head and the postmentum both nearly flat, slightly arched at the fontanelle; labrum lanceolate, the semi-transparent area at the tip a blunt triangle; mandibles stout, longer than half the head capsule, the fine teeth at the middle of the inner margin distinct, with several incisions near the mandibular base; antennae with 17 segments, segment 3 nearly twice segment 2; compound eyes small, dot-like; postmentum about four times as long as the narrowest part, the waist region in the anterior third. The anterior and posterior margins of the pronotum both incised in the middle, the posterior more deeply; the angular projection of the pronotal lateral lobes inconspicuous, that of the mesonotal and metanotal lateral lobes distinct; hind tibia shorter than the head width. Minor soldier: head yellowish brown, thorax and abdomen paler; head trapezoidal, 1.2 to 1.3 times as long as wide, fontanelle in front of the midpoint, postmentum strongly projecting; labrum narrower and more slender than in the major soldier; mandibles slender, about two thirds of the head capsule in length, the mandibular body rather straight with the apex strongly curved; antennae with 17 segments, segments 2 to 5 nearly equal in length.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
The soldier has a brown head tinged with red and yellowish brown terga. The head is trapezoidal, about one and a third times as long as wide, with the fontanelle before mid-length and the dorsum and postmentum nearly flat in profile. Mandibles are strong, more than half the head length, with distinct median serrations; antennae have 17 segments, the third nearly twice the second. The pronotum is notched on both margins, the rear notch deeper, and the meso- and metanotal lobes project as angles.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Yaxian, Hainan.
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 314 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
According to He Yinzhu & Liang Xingcai's (2009) study, specimens collected on 25 October 1982 at Xiacun, Baoshan, Yunnan, were reported as a new record of Macrotermes trapezoides for Yunnan Province; the major soldier has a trapezoidal head with a nearly straight posterior margin, 17-segmented antennae, and a third antennal segment longer than the second, and besides Yunnan the species also occurs in Hainan.
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 trapezoides 梯头大白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-trapezoides/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_macrotermes_trapezoides_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Macrotermes trapezoides: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-trapezoides/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Macrotermes trapezoides: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-trapezoides/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -