Prorhinotermes flavus 黄色原鼻白蚁
- Type locality
- Sri Lanka: Ambalangoda
- Distribution
- Southeast Asia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Prorhinotermes flavus is a species of the genus Prorhinotermes, in the family PSAMMOTERMITIDAE. The species was described by Bugnion & Popoff in 1910; the type locality is Sri Lanka: Ambalangoda. Distribution: Southeast Asia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan. This site records 9 junior synonyms for the species.
Etymology
Genus name Prorhinotermes: From Greek pro- (before) + rhis (nose) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet flavus: Latin flavus (yellow)
Taxonomic position
- Family: PSAMMOTERMITIDAE — 2 genera, 18 species
- Genus: Prorhinotermes — 12 species
- Type species of the genus: Prorhinotermes inopinatus
Distribution
- Distribution records: Southeast Asia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Junior synonyms
This site records 9 junior synonyms for the species, listed by their original literature source:
- Arrhinotermes japonicus Holmgren, 1912: 122-124 — type locality: Taiwan: Botel Tobago
- Arrhinotermes krakataui Holmgren, 1913: 69-71 — type locality: Indonesia: Krakatau
- Termitogetonella tibiaoensis Oshima, 1920: 496-498 — type locality: Philippines: Panay: Antique Province, Tibiao
- Prorhinotermes luzonensis Light, 1921: 49-54 — type locality: Panay: Antique Province: Culasi
- Prorhinotermes gracilis Light, 1921: 54-57 — type locality: Philippines: Luzon: Bulacan Bay
- Prorhinotermes shiva Roonwal & Thakur, 1963: 102-109 — type locality: about 100 yards from Rizal-Bulacan boundary to Guiguinto
- Prorhinotermes tibiaoensiformis Ahmad, 1965: 23-24 — type locality: Luzon: Rizal Province, about 1 km from the Rizal-Bulacan boundary on the Manila-North road
- Prorhinotermes ravani Roonwal & Maiti, 1966: 84-90 — type locality: Philippines: Luzon: Rizal Province near Rizal-Bulacan boundary of Manila North road
- Prorhinotermes panaitanensis Thakur & Thakur, 1992: 251-257 — type locality: India: Andaman Islands: Long Island
In older literature, regional checklists and database searches, this species may appear under the synonyms above (Arrhinotermes japonicus, Arrhinotermes krakataui, Termitogetonella tibiaoensis, Prorhinotermes luzonensis, Prorhinotermes gracilis, Prorhinotermes shiva, Prorhinotermes tibiaoensiformis, Prorhinotermes ravani); this site treats them all under Prorhinotermes flavus.
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
The head capsule is brown tinged with yellow; the mandibles dark brown, almost black, the mandibular bases concolorous with the head capsule; the labrum, antennae, frontal gland pore and compound eyes yellowish brown; the thorax, abdomen and legs also yellowish brown. The whole body is sparsely covered with hairs; the periphery of the pronotum bears only scattered bristles, with two visible in the middle region. The head capsule is broadly elliptical, the sides expanding backwards from the mandibular bases and becoming almost parallel behind the compound eyes, the posterior margin broadly rounded, the widest point near the middle. The labrum is nearly square, its apex flat and slightly concave, with two apical hairs directed forwards; the anteclypeus is a transverse band, the postclypeus trapezoidal. The mandibles are sabre-like, their apices slender and slightly curved, the base with a distinct mandibular condyle, the middle of the inner margin almost smooth. Antennae with 17 segments, segments 3 and 4 both rather short. The compound eyes are distinct and slightly bulging. The frontal gland pore is circular and lies behind two-fifths of the anterior part of the head capsule, with a shallow groove in front of the pore leading to the clypeus, the groove slightly wider than the pore, the area around the pore slightly depressed and bearing several fine forward-curving arcs; in lateral view the surface in front of and behind the pore is rather flat, and the dorsal margin of the head runs straight backwards from the clypeus. The broad region of the postmentum lies at one-quarter of the anterior part, the middle of its anterolateral margin slightly concave inwards, the surface of the broad region slightly arched and bearing several arc lines; the waist lies at one-third of the posterior part of the postmentum, the length of the postmentum about six times the width of the waist. The pronotum is kidney-shaped, with a broad V-shaped shallow notch in the middle of the anterior margin, the lateral and posterior margins continuous in a broad arc, the margin of the disc slightly upturned and most evidently so at the sides; the mesonotum and metanotum are both about as broad as the pronotum.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
Soldiers are yellowish brown and sparsely clothed, the pronotum bearing only scattered marginal setae plus two on the mid-dorsal area. The head is broadly oval, widest near midlength, its hind margin broadly rounded. The labrum is subquadrate with two forward-pointing apical setae, the anteclypeus a transverse bar and the postclypeus trapezoidal. Mandibles are sabre-shaped with a distinct basal hump and a smooth inner edge at midlength. Antennae have 17 segments, the third and fourth short; the round frontal pore lies behind the anterior two-fifths and connects to the clypeus by a shallow groove. The kidney-shaped pronotum bears a broad V-shaped anterior notch.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Recorded only from Lanyu Island, Taiwan.
Taxonomic notes
Recorded in the original work as Prorhinotermes japonicus, now merged as a synonym into P. flavus.
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 67 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.
Distribution map
Aggregated from GBIF occurrence records on a 1° grid; only extant taxa of this checklist are used, so fossil records are excluded. Dot size and shade show the number of records inside a cell.
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.
- SPECIES OF HOLOMASTIGOTOIDES IN PRORHINOTERMES
Abstract
- (E,E)-α-Farnesene, an Alarm Pheromone of the Termite Prorhinotermes canalifrons
Abstract
- Agonistic Behavior of the Termite Prorhinotermes canalifrons (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
Abstract
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.
Other species in Prorhinotermes (11 species)
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: Prorhinotermes flavus 黄色原鼻白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/prorhinotermes-flavus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_prorhinotermes_flavus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Prorhinotermes flavus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/prorhinotermes-flavus/},
note = {PSAMMOTERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Prorhinotermes flavus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/prorhinotermes-flavus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -