Reticulitermes hypsofrons Ping & Li, 1981 高额散白蚁

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 yellow, the thorax and abdomen pale yellow, the hairs of the thorax and abdomen rather dense. The head capsule is rectangular, the head width index 0.51–0.55, the lateral margins parallel and slightly concave at the middle. The frontal ridge is strongly raised. The labrum is roundly spear-shaped, about 1–1.22 times as long as wide, the semi-transparent apical region broad and rounded; the apical hairs fine and long, the lateral-apical hairs either well developed or reduced, and behind the apical hairs there is also a pair of very short subapical hairs. The mandibles are rather short and stout, 0.89–0.97 times the head width and 0.46–0.52 times the head capsule length. The lacinial margin of the maxilla bears about eleven hairs. The narrow region of the postmentum differs considerably between colonies, its width 0.14–0.19 mm, the waist constriction index 0.27–0.36. Antennae with 16–17 segments. The pronotum is about 1.54–1.67 times as wide as long, the notches of the anterior and posterior margins both rather deep, the median notch rate 11–20 per cent, with more than thirty hairs in the middle region.

Alate

The whole body is chestnut brown, the pronotum yellow with brown clouding on the anterior half, the postmentum chestnut brown with a yellow spot in the middle, the tibiae and tarsi pale yellow, the whole body covered with golden soft hairs. The head capsule is approximately oval, the vertex slightly concave, the fontanelle slightly projecting, the postclypeus slightly raised but lower than the vertex. The lacinial margin of the maxilla bears twelve hairs. The short diameter of the compound eye is slightly greater than the distance from the compound eye to the lower margin of the head, the projection rate 3–6 per cent. The long diameter of the ocellus is slightly greater than the ocellus-compound eye distance. The distance from the compound eye to the antennal socket is about half the distance from the ocellus to the antennal socket. Antennae with 17–18 segments. The pronotum is about 1.45–1.59 times as wide as long, the median notch of the posterior margin deeper than that of the anterior, the hairs of the middle region long and dense, more than sixty. The Cu vein of the forewing has about thirteen branches, that of the hindwing about twelve.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Dazhulan, Jianyang, Fujian (900 m a.s.l.).

Taxonomic notes

The genus name is printed in the original work as Reticuliter mes, a misspelling of Reticulitermes; it is now assigned to the genus Reticulitermes.

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 176 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.