Reticulitermes labralis Hsia & Fan, 1965 圆唇散白蚁

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 reddish brown, the pilosity of the head capsule sparse. The head capsule is rectangular, the head width index 0.62–0.65, the sides nearly parallel, the posterior margin broad and rounded. The frontal region is very slightly raised, the interfrontal depression rather shallow. The labrum is spear-shaped, the apex narrow and rounded, the apical, subapical and lateral-apical hairs all present. The mandibles are rather weak, slender and straight, their apices slender and almost straight; the mandibular length 0.54–0.56 times the head capsule length and 0.83–0.88 times the head width. Antennae with 15–16 segments. Small white ocellus-like spots are occasionally visible. The broad region of the postmentum lies between the anterior one-fifth and one-quarter, the waist region broad and short with the sides slightly in a broad arc, the waist constriction index 0.40–0.50, about one-sixth of the head width. The pronotum is 1.50–1.59 times as wide as long, the anterior and posterior margins rather straight, the notches both shallow, the lateral margins in a broad arc, with ten to sixteen hairs in the middle region.

Alate

The head capsule, postmentum, pronotum and femoral segments are all blackish brown; the labrum, postclypeus and tibiae greyish brown, the tibiae paler. The head capsule is circular, the fontanelle dot-like, about 0.48 mm from the frontal margin. The compound eyes are roundly triangular, the projection rate 1–5 per cent, the long diameter greater than the distance from the compound eye to the lower margin of the head; the ocelli are nearly circular, the long diameter greater than their distance from the compound eye. The vertex arches like a mound, the frontal slope slightly concave, the postclypeus projecting and slightly lower than the vertex, slightly higher than the ocelli. Antennae with 17–18 segments. The anterior margin of the pronotum is broad and flat with a broad shallow median notch, the lateral margins slightly arcuate, the middle of the posterior margin distinctly notched.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shanghai.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 123 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.