Reticulitermes sylvestris Ping & Xu, 1993 林海散白蚁

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 purplish brown and slightly transparent, thorax and abdomen greyish white, short setae scattered over the head capsule. Head capsule rectangular, head-width index 0.52–0.57, lateral margins parallel, posterior margin broadly rounded. Frontal pore dot-like, situated at the anterior quarter of the head, with three pairs of setae in front of it. Frons of the single-peak type, distinctly raised in profile, anterior slope about 45 degrees and posterior slope about 160 degrees. Labrum lanceolate, about 1.26 times as long as wide, the semi-transparent area at the apex pointed in a triangle, apical, subapical and lateral apical setae all distinct. Mandibles sabre-shaped, apex slightly curved, left mandible 0.51–0.55 times head capsule length. Antennae 13–16 segments. Anterior lateral margins of the postmentum widening posteriorly, widest at the anterior fifth; the narrowest part of the waist region lies in the middle-posterior section, margins parallel, waist constriction index 0.35–0.39. Pronotum 1.43–1.54 times as wide as long, anterior and posterior margins both shallowly concave in the middle; about 30 long setae in the middle region.

Alate

Head blackish brown, postmentum pale greyish yellow, pronotum greyish yellow with the anterior margin pale brown, tergites and sternites of the abdomen blackish brown; wings and femora pale blackish brown, the fore legs paler, tibiae and tarsi pale greyish yellow, body setae yellow. Head capsule circular, slightly longer than wide; labrum hemispherical, postclypeus fan-shaped, median suture indistinct. Frontal region shallowly concave, antennal patch smooth and slightly paler. Compound eyes flattened-oval, protrusion 4–5%. In profile the postclypeus weakly projecting, slightly lower than the vertex; fontanelle dot-like, at the same level as the postclypeus. Distance from the compound eye to the lower margin of the head shorter than the long diameter of the compound eye; distance from the compound eye to the antennal socket about two-fifths of the distance from the ocellus to the antennal socket. Antennae 16 segments, the third and fourth the shortest. Pronotum 1.57–1.6 times as wide as long, anterior margin slightly upturned and shallowly concave in the middle, the median line visible, posterior margin notched in the middle, median emargination index 8–10%; long and short setae abundant in the middle region.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Host: Cephalotaxus fortunei (Chinese plum-yew).

Distribution and locality

Guangdong.

Taxonomic notes

The genus name is printed as Reticuliter mes in the original work, a misspelling of Reticulitermes; the species is here placed in Reticulitermes.

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 189 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.