Reticulitermes jiangchengensis Yang, Zhu & Huang, 1992 江城散白蚁

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 yellowish brown, mandibles purplish brown, the pilosity of the head capsule moderate. The head capsule is rectangular, the head width index 0.52–0.53, the sides nearly parallel and somewhat narrowed behind the antennal sockets, the posterior margin slightly rounded. The frontal ridge is strongly raised, shallowly concave between the two ridges. The labrum is lingulate, the apex broad and rounded, the semi-transparent region with a bluntly angular appearance; the apical and subapical hairs present, the lateral-apical hairs fine or indistinct. The mandibles are short and stout, their apices strongly curved like a hook, the mandibular condyle distinct, the mandibular length 0.9–0.93 times the head width. Antennae with 17 segments. The broad region of the postmentum lies at the anterior one-fifth, the anterolateral margins first parallel and then expanding outwards; the waist region narrow and long with the sides parallel, the waist constriction index 0.31–0.34. The pronotum is approximately trapezoidal, about 1.52–1.58 times as wide as long, the anterior margin broadly V-shaped concave, the posterior margin nearly straight with the middle slightly concave, with more than thirty hairs in the middle region.

Alate

Head capsule blackish brown, the pronotum dull yellow, the postmentum concolorous with the head capsule but slightly paler, with a yellow spot in the middle; the labrum and postclypeus dull brown, the femoral segments blackish brown, the tibiae greyish yellow, the wings dull brown. The head capsule is long-oval, the fontanelle dot-like, 0.53 mm from the anterior frontal margin. The compound eyes are roundly triangular, the projection rate 4 per cent, the short diameter greater than the distance from the compound eye to the lower margin of the head. The ocelli are circular, the diameter equal to the ocellus-compound eye distance. The dorsal margin of the head arches gently, the vertex rather flat, the postclypeus slightly raised, lower than the vertex and level with the ocelli. Antennae with 18–19 segments. The pronotum is step-like, 1.42–1.47 times as wide as long, the anterior margin nearly straight with a shallow median incision, the median notch of the posterior margin rather deep. The forewing 7.8–8.3 mm long and about 2.14 mm wide; the hindwing 7.19–7.65 mm long and about 1.99 mm wide; the Cu vein with about eight branches.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Jiangcheng, Yunnan (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. 177 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.