Nasutitermes communis Tsai & Chen, 1963 圆头象白蚁

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

Alate

Head of the alate reddish brown, antennae and postclypeus dull yellow; pronotum and dorsum of the abdomen brown, ventral surface of the abdomen brownish yellow; wings black. Body densely covered with fine hairs. Head oval, rather broad, the vertex flat. Compound eyes elongate-oval and projecting; ocelli large, situated on the dorsolateral side in front of the compound eyes, the distance between ocellus and compound eye less than the width of the ocellus. Postclypeus arched, the posterior margin bowing backwards, the anterior margin very straight, its length less than half its width. Fontanelle pale and slender, situated in the middle of the vertex. Antennae with 15 segments, segments 2 and 4 almost equal in length, segment 3 short, segment 5 longer than segment 3 and slightly shorter than segment 4. Pronotum broad in front and narrow behind, the anterior margin straight, the median notch distinct or absent, the posterior margin slightly concave in the middle. Media of the forewing arising independently at the humeral suture, closer to the cubitus than to the radial sector, dividing into two to three branches beyond three quarters of the wing length and running towards the posterior part of the wing apex; cubitus with about 11 to 12 branches, the seven nearest the wing scale thick and dark. Media of the hindwing arising from the radial sector, the remaining venation as in the forewing.

Worker

Head of the worker yellow, abdomen almost white. Dorsum of the abdomen densely covered with short hairs, the posterior end of each ventral segment with a row of longer erect hairs. Head oval, the vertex flat, postclypeus strongly arched, its length slightly less than half its width. Antennae with 14 segments, segment 2 equal in length to segments 3 and 4 together, segment 5 shorter than segment 2. Anterior part of the pronotum erect and about the same size as the posterior part, the anterior margin not concave in the middle, or concave and divided into left and right lobes. Body length 3.88 to 5 mm.

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Jianou, Yongan, Hexi and Nanjing, Fujian; Jiangxi; Hunan; Nanxiong, Guangdong.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 408 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.