Prorhinotermes xishaensis Li & Tsai, 1976 西沙原鼻白蚁

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

Soldier head capsule pale orange-yellow, mandibles purplish brown, labrum, antennae, compound eyes, pronotum and legs all pale yellow. The pilosity of the head capsule is sparse; the periphery of the pronotum bears more than ten marginal hairs, with about two to three in the middle region. The head capsule is broadly oval, widest somewhat behind the middle, the posterior margin broadly rounded. The labrum is lingulate, about as long as wide, its apex rather rounded, with two apical hairs. The mandibles are sabre-like, the inner margin rather straight, the inner margin of the left mandibular base with a distinct tooth-like process, the outer margin with a raised mandibular condyle. Antennae with 17–19 segments, segment 3 or 4 the shortest. The compound eyes are nearly round and slightly convex. The frontal gland pore is circular and lies behind one-quarter of the anterior part of the head capsule, densely surrounded by shallow striae, with a shallow groove in front of it running to the postclypeus; in lateral view the dorsal margin of the head is raised in the frontal region and nearly straight behind the pore, the frontal slope in front of the pore about 30 degrees. The broad region of the postmentum lies at the anterior quarter, the anterior part of its surface rather flat and gradually arched posteriorly, the middle appearing dot-like, the waist at one-third of the posterior part of the postmentum. The pronotum is kidney-shaped and flat, with a broad V-shaped shallow notch on the anterior margin and a broadly rounded posterior margin; the mesonotum is broader than the pronotum, and the metanotum is also slightly broader than the pronotum.

Alate

The alate body is orange-yellow tinged with red, the head capsule and pronotum slightly darker, the compound eyes black, the wing membrane semi-translucent with the costa and radial sector reddish brown. The head capsule and pronotum are very sparsely haired, the sternites slightly more densely so. The head capsule is circular and slightly long, the dorsal margin of the head rather flat in lateral view. The frontal gland pore is circular and lies at one-third of the anterior part of the head capsule, with a shallow groove in front of it running to the postclypeus. The postclypeus is convex and level with the frontal surface, with a median suture, about half as long as wide. The compound eyes are rather projecting and nearly circular; the ocelli are elongate-oval and transverse, almost touching the compound eyes. Antennae with 19 segments, segments 3, 4 and 5 all rather short. The pronotum is slightly wider than the head capsule, its anterior margin shallowly concave, the sides gradually narrowing posteriorly, the posterior margin almost straight. The forewing is longer than the hindwing and equally wide, the venation reticulate; the forewing lacks a media, and the media of the hindwing arises from the radial sector outside the shoulder suture. The ninth sternite of the male bears a stylus, which is absent in the female; the cerci have two segments.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

The host is recorded as the yangjiao tree.

Distribution and locality

Hainan Island (Xisha Islands).

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 69 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.