Reticulitermes gaoshi Li & Ma, 1987 大囟散白蚁

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

Head pale yellowish brown, mandibles reddish brown, the pilosity of the head capsule moderate. The head capsule is rectangular, the head width index 0.58–0.60, the sides parallel, the posterior margin nearly straight. The frontal region is slightly projecting. The labrum is lingulate, the apex bluntly rounded or slightly narrow, the apical and subapical hairs present, the lateral-apical hairs present or absent. The mandibles are long and strong, their apices rather curved, the mandibular condyle clear; the mandibular length 0.53–0.54 times the head capsule length and 0.89–0.92 times the head width. Antennae with 16 segments. The broad region of the postmentum lies between the anterior quarter and the anterior one-fifth, the middle of the anterolateral margins slightly concave, the waist region broad and short, the waist constriction index 0.35–0.42. The pronotum is inversely trapezoidal, 1.55–1.59 times as wide as long, the middle of the anterior margin shallowly concave, the posterior margin almost without a notch, with nearly twenty long and short hairs in the middle region.

Alate

Head brown, the pronotum slightly darker than the head, with a pale T-shaped mark in the middle; the postmentum, the basal antennal segment and the femoral segments deep brown; the labrum, postclypeus and the lower half of the tibiae pale yellow, the upper half of the tibiae tinged with brown; the wings pale brown. The head capsule is nearly circular, the fontanelle large and round, about 0.15 mm in diameter, pale yellow, 0.49 mm from the anterior frontal margin, the antennal spots distinct. The compound eyes are roundly triangular, the projection rate 4 per cent, the short diameter about equal to the distance to the lower margin of the head. The ocelli are elliptical, the short diameter slightly greater than the ocellus-compound eye distance. In lateral view the vertex is raised in a gentle mound, the postclypeus weakly projecting and slightly lower than the vertex. The pronotum is inversely trapezoidal, 1.51–1.61 times as wide as long, the anterior margin nearly straight, the middle of the posterior margin notched; the forewing 7.11–7.34 mm long and 1.91–2.08 mm wide; the hindwing 6.88 mm long and 1.99–2.03 mm wide, the cubitus with about ten to twelve branches.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Xinyang and Jigongshan, Henan.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 117 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.