Macrotermes zhejiangensis Ping & Dong, 1994 浙江大白蚁

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

Major soldier: head brown tinged with yellow, antennae dark brown with the basal two segments pale, thoracic and abdominal tergites brown, legs pale brown tinged with yellow. Head almost trapezoidal, about 1.24 times as long as wide, widest about twice the width of the mandibular base, the posterior margin nearly flat; fontanelle at the midpoint, in lateral view the dorsal margin arched at the fontanelle, the postmentum slightly projecting beyond the ventral margin of the head; mandibles short and stout, less than half the head capsule in length, the fine teeth at the middle of the inner margin of the left mandible indistinct, with several incisions in front of the mandibular base; antennae with 17 segments, segment 3 slightly longer than segment 2, segments 2 and 4 equal in length; postmentum about four to five times as long as the narrowest part. The anterior and posterior margins of the pronotum and the posterior margin of the mesonotum all incised in the middle, the posterior margin of the metanotum nearly flat; the lateral margins of all three thoracic segments angular. Minor soldier: dorsum of head, thorax and abdomen pale brownish yellow, antennae darker; head seemingly almost trapezoidal, about 1.25 times as long as wide; fontanelle slightly behind the midpoint; mandibles slender and elongate, about two thirds of the head capsule in length, the mandibular body rather straight with the apex slightly curved; postmentum band-like, broader at one fifth of its length from the anterior end.

Alate

Body dorsum dark brown, wings yellow-grey, wing veins yellowish brown, legs yellowish brown. Head capsule circular and slightly flattened; compound eyes elongate-oval and transverse; fontanelle a dot-like projection, situated at the centre of the posterior margin of the compound eyes; in lateral view the postclypeus and ocelli strongly raised, the postclypeus with a brown median line, about 2.5 times as wide as long; antennae with 19 segments, segment 3 longer than segment 2, segments 4 and 5 shortest; anterior margin of the pronotum broadly concave, the sides steeply inclined backwards, the posterior margin nearly flat, with a T-shaped pale marking in the centre and a dot-like spot at each anterolateral corner; the branching of the media of the forewing behind the midpoint indistinct or weak.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Quzhou, Zhejiang.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 317 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.