Reticulitermes tricolorus Ping & Li, 1982 三色散白蚁

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 yellow, thorax and abdomen pale yellowish white. Head capsule rectangular, head-width index 0.52–0.63, lateral margins parallel, frontal peaks strongly raised. Labrum elongate-lanceolate, about 1.1–1.5 times as long as wide, the semi-transparent area at the apex narrowly rounded, bearing two long apical setae; two short subapical setae present or absent, lateral apical setae absent, the labral ridge usually bearing two long setae. Mandibles rather slender and elongate, apex slightly curved; length 0.51–0.63 times head capsule length and 0.89–1.06 times head width; eight setae along the margin of the lacinia. Waist constriction index of the postmentum 0.28–0.4. Antennae 14–16 segments, mostly 14–15, the third or fourth the shortest. Pronotum about 1.4–1.6 times as wide as long, the incision at the middle of the anterior margin rather deep, that at the middle of the posterior margin shallower, setae in the middle region abundant.

Alate

Head brown with a blackish tinge, pronotum pale brownish black, brownish yellow or greyish yellow in different individuals; postmentum brown or pale brown, not always matching the pronotum. Femora pale blackish brown, tibiae and tarsi pale greyish yellow, abdomen pale blackish brown, with a white longitudinal stripe in the middle of sternites 2–5. Head capsule oval, median suture of the head yellow, vertex slightly raised; postclypeus projecting, slightly lower than the vertex. Compound eyes almost not projecting, their long diameter greater than the distance to the lower margin of the head in males and nearly equal to it in females. Long diameter of the ocellus greater than the ocellus–compound eye distance; distance from the ocellus to the antennal socket three times the distance from the compound eye to the antennal socket. Fontanelle small and raised. Nine setae along the margin of the lacinia. Antennae 17 segments, the third or fourth the shortest. Pronotum about 1.5–1.7 times as wide as long, anterior and posterior margins both bluntly incised, median line pale yellow, setae in the middle region rather dense. Cu vein with 11 branches in each of the forewing and hindwing.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Chongqing; Yongshun, Hunan; and Guangxi.

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