Reticulitermes affinis Hsia & Fan, 1965 肖若散白蚁

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

The head is dull yellowish brown, the mandibles deep purplish brown, the body dull yellowish white, the pilosity of the head capsule sparse. The head capsule is rectangular, the head width index about 0.59, the sides parallel, the middle of the posterior margin straight, the frontal ridge markedly raised, the depression between the ridges rather shallow. The labrum is long-spear-shaped with a narrow anterior part and a slightly blunt apex, apical, subapical and lateral-apical hairs all present. The mandibles are long and strong, their apices rather curved, the mandibular condyle indistinct, their length 0.56–0.59 of the head capsule length, equal to the head width or 0.98 times it. Antennae with 16–17 segments. The broad region of the postmentum lies at about the anterior one-fifth, the sides of the waist region parallel, the waist constriction index 0.32–0.38. The pronotum is about 1.42–1.63 times as wide as long, its anterior margin distinctly wider than the posterior, the lateral margins running straight and turning sharply backwards, the four corners narrowly rounded, both the anterior and the posterior margin straight with a median notch, the broad V-shaped notch of the anterior margin rather deep, with about sixteen hairs in the middle region.

Alate

Head capsule chestnut brown, postmentum yellow, labrum and postclypeus pale brown, antennae brown, pronotum yellow, femoral segments pale brown, tibiae greyish yellow, wings greyish brown. The head capsule is nearly circular, slightly longer than wide, the fontanelle dot-like, 0.51–0.52 mm from the frontal margin. The compound eyes are roundly triangular, the projection rate 2–6 per cent, the short diameter greater than the distance from the compound eye to the lower margin of the head. The ocelli are nearly circular, their distance from the compound eye about equal to their short diameter. The postclypeus has almost no projection and lies below the vertex in lateral view, the vertex arched. Antennae with 17 segments. The pronotum is nearly flat-square, about 1.40–1.53 times as wide as long, the median notches of the anterior and posterior margins distinct, the median notch rate about 13 per cent. The wings are broad and long with a broadly rounded apex, the cubitus with about eleven branches.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Chong'an and the whole of Fujian; also recorded from Zhejiang, Hunan, Guangdong and Taiwan.

Taxonomic notes

The genus name is defective in the original work, printed as Reticuliter mes; it is in fact the genus Reticulitermes, the same genus name as currently used on this site.

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 156 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.