Sinocapritermes albipennis Tsai & Chen, 1963 白翅华扭白蚁

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, labrum white, pronotum and legs pale yellow, abdomen white. Body covered with a rather dense pilosity. Head somewhat flattened-cylindrical, rectangular in dorsal view but rather broad, the sides parallel or slightly narrowed anteriorly, the posterior margin somewhat arched backwards. The head suture does not extend beyond the mid-point of the head. From about the anterior middle the vertex slopes gradually forwards, so that the frons is rather flat. Fontanelle at one-sixth of the head from the front, set in a small shallow pit. Labrum elongate, its two anterior corners projecting forwards as cones. Mandibles curved and rod-like, about as long as the head, asymmetrical, the left more strongly curved; the anterior ends of both curve towards the midline as small blunt hooks, and behind the mid-point of the left mandible there is a prominent blunt tooth hidden by the labrum. Antennae 14 segments, the second and fourth equal in length, the third longer than the second and about equal to the fifth. Pronotum narrower than the head, its anterior part distinctly raised; mesonotum narrower; metanotum as wide as the pronotum.

Alate

Vertex brownish; abdominal tergites, sternites and pronotum brownish yellow, the centre of the pronotum slightly paler than the surrounding parts but without a T-shaped mark. Antennae, postclypeus and legs paler, light brownish yellow; wings white in life. Postclypeus raised, less than half as long as wide. Ocelli nearly circular, the distance to the compound eye smaller than the ocellus diameter. Between the two eyes the vertex bears a distinctly shallow basin, in the centre of which lies the elongate-oval fontanelle. Antennae 15 segments, the second stout and long, the third the shortest, the fourth and fifth equal in length and slightly longer than the third, the sixth about as long as the second but slightly thinner. Pronotum broad anteriorly and narrow posteriorly, the anterior margin nearly straight without a central incision, the anterior lateral corners small and rounded, the middle of the posterior margin slightly concave forwards. Forewing scale slightly larger than the hindwing scale; the media of the forewing arising independently at the humeral suture and running between the radial sector and the cubitus, dividing into two branches beyond the mid-point; the media of the hindwing arising from the radial sector, somewhat nearer the cubitus.

Worker

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Inhabits soil beneath turf; the nest consists of numerous small soil chambers and galleries and is simple in structure.

Distribution and locality

Changpotou, Jinping, Yunnan (altitude 1300 m).

Taxonomic notes

The genus name is printed as Sinicapritermes in the original work; the name now in use is Sinocapritermes.

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 357 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.