Reticulitermes guangzhouensis Ping, 1985 广州散白蚁

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 yellow, mandibles purplish brown, the pilosity of the head capsule moderate. The head capsule is rectangular, the head width index 0.54–0.65, the sides nearly parallel or slightly diverging posteriorly, the posterior margin broadly straight. The frontal ridge is raised, slightly concave between the ridges. The labrum is spear-shaped, the apex narrow and rounded, the apical and subapical hairs present, the lateral-apical hairs absent. The apices of the mandibles are slender and pointed and slightly curved, the length 0.52–0.66 of the head capsule length and 0.91–1.05 of the head width. Antennae with 14–16 segments. The broad region of the postmentum lies at the anterior quarter, the anterolateral margins trapezoidal, the waist region rather broad and slightly short, the length of the postmentum about five to six times the width of the waist, the waist constriction index 0.39–0.47. The pronotum is about 1.4–1.8 times as wide as long, the anterior margin formed by two intersecting arcs, the lateral margins slightly oblique posteriorly, the middle of the posterior margin slightly concave, with thirty to forty hairs in the middle region.

Alate

Head capsule pale blackish brown, the pronotum greyish yellow, the labrum and postclypeus slightly paler than the head capsule, the postmentum and femoral segments close to the head capsule in colour, the tibiae greyish yellow, the wings brown. The head capsule is circular and slightly long, the fontanelle dot-like, about 0.48 mm from the anterior frontal margin. The compound eyes are roundly triangular, the projection rate 1–2 per cent, the short diameter about equal to the distance from the compound eye to the lower margin of the head. The ocelli are nearly circular, the long diameter slightly greater than the ocellus-compound eye distance. Antennae with 17–18 segments. The dorsal margin of the head is slightly arched, the postclypeus slightly projecting, lower than the vertex and higher than the ocelli. The pronotum is about 1.5–1.6 times as wide as long, the anterior and posterior margins nearly straight, the median notches of both indistinct. The forewing 6.58–7.04 mm long and 1.84–1.99 mm wide, the hindwing 6.27–6.73 mm long and 1.84–1.91 mm wide, the cubitus with about nine to ten branches each.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Guangdong.

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. 171 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.