Postsubulitermes parviconstrictus Emerson, 1960 微缩后锥白蚁

Morphology

The description below is paraphrased from the original or a later revision, by caste; the source is cited at the end.

Diagnostic characters

Erected by Emerson (1960) and supplemented by Sands (1965): soldier monotypic, the nasus slenderly cylindrical, tapering forwards to a fine point, the mandibles without a point, the anterior margin of the labrum evenly rounded, the head capsule hardly constricted behind the antennal sockets, the base of the nasus slightly raised, antennal segments 12, setae extremely few (one pair on the vertex, 1–2 pairs at the base of the nasus, a few at the nasus tip); alate postclypeus moderately inflated, twice as wide as long, the anterior margin undulate with a median convexity, fontanelle long and Y-shaped, compound eyes not projecting beyond the sides of the head, pilosity extremely fine and sparse (3 hairs on each eye, 2 pairs on the vertex, 1 pair on the postclypeus), the lateral margins of the pronotum contracted posteriorly, the length less than two-thirds of the width; worker apical tooth of the left mandible much longer than marginal tooth 1 (index 2.63), the cutting edge between marginal teeth 1–3 entire and concave, the gap between marginal tooth 3 and the molar prominence extremely narrow, marginal tooth 2 of the right mandible absent, the molar plate weakly concave near the base, with a weak anterior and a strong rounded posterior ridge, without transverse ridges. Emerson's supplement: head dark brown and pronotum yellow, strongly contrasting; soldier head length 1.39–1.53 mm, width 0.55–0.60 mm, pronotum 0.34–0.39 mm, hind tibia 0.71–0.79 mm.

Alate

Head and postclypeus with sparse short hairs and several long setae; the pronotum has many long setae near the lateral and posterior margins and a few short hairs on the surface; the abdominal tergites and sternites both bear many long setae or hairs of nearly equal length. Ocelli large and distinct, less than half their own width from the compound eye, slightly larger than the antennal socket. Fontanelle pale brown, elongate, furcate at the tip, situated in a shallow depression on the vertex. Postclypeus about half as long as wide (0.18 mm × 0.36 mm). The lateral margins of the pronotum rather straight and contracted posteriorly, the posterior angles rounded, the posterior margin slightly concave; the posterior angles of the mesonotum slightly less than right angles, the median emargination slightly greater than a right angle; the posterior angles of the metanotum more rounded, about equal to a right angle, the median emargination angle greater than that of the mesonotum. Spur formula 2:2:2. The antennae of the specimens are broken off.

Soldier

Head surface scattered with setae and short hairs; the tip of the frontal projection bears several hairs, but the middle and base of the frontal projection are without short hairs. Pronotum with a few short hairs, more numerous anteriorly. Each abdominal tergite with a row of posterior marginal setae and scattered hairs about one-third their length; the setae and hairs of the sternites are longer than those of the tergites, the hairs about half the length of the setae. Head oval in dorsal view, the frontal projection slender and elongate, tapering slightly forwards, a slight constriction visible behind the antennal sockets (in both dorsal and lateral view). Antennal segments 12. Mandibles without a point. Anterior margin of the pronotum very shallowly and indistinctly concave. Spur formula 2:2:2. Head dark brown, pronotum yellow, strongly contrasting.

Worker

The apical tooth of the mandible is proportionally longer than in Afrosubulitermes and Verrucositermes; marginal tooth 3 of the left mandible is indistinct, the cutting edge between marginal teeth 1 and 3 entire and concave, the gap between marginal tooth 3 and the molar prominence extremely narrow; marginal tooth 2 of the right mandible is absent, the molar plate weakly concave near the base, with a weak anterior ridge and a strong rounded posterior ridge, without transverse ridges. Left mandible index 2.63.

This genus is monotypic, containing only this species; the following is the genus-level description based on the original literature; species-level measurements and intraspecific variation are given in the original.