Sinonasutitermes yui Ping & Xu, 1991 尤氏华象白蚁

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 and antennae yellowish brown, nasus reddish brown, thorax, abdomen and legs pale greyish brown; head nearly bare, the tip of the nasus with a few hairs and spines. Large form: head circular and somewhat flattened, 1–1.06 times as wide as long, widest behind the middle, the posterior margin flattened-round; nasus a stout cone, strongly upturned in profile, the angle with the clypeus about 130°, the part of the nasus rising above the top of the head exceeding one-third of the head height, the base of the nasus concave, mandibles with a short apical spine. Antennae 13 segments, the second the shortest, about half the third. The anterior raised part of the pronotum strongly sclerotised and with a median incision. Medium form: head flattened-round, wider than long, nasus shorter than the head, slightly upturned in profile with the tip about level with the top of the head, the base of the nasus shallowly concave, the angle slightly greater than 110°; antennae 13 segments, the second to fourth nearly equal in length. Small form: head circular and slightly long, longer than wide, nasus shorter than the head, upturned in profile with the tip higher than the top of the head, the base of the nasus shallowly concave, the angle about 120°; antennae 12 segments, the second the shortest. Anterior and posterior margins of the pronotum nearly straight.

Alate

Head and postmentum brown, labrum, postclypeus, antennae, fontanelle and thorax and abdomen yellowish brown, legs nearly yellow with the tibiae darker, wings pale yellow; head and pronotum densely covered with hairs. Head nearly circular, compound eyes elongate-oval and projecting outwards, ocelli flattened-round, the ocellus–compound eye distance less than one-third of the short diameter of the compound eye. Postclypeus raised, about four times as wide as long, the median line distinct; fontanelle elongate-oval, the two forks at the anterolateral sides distinct, with an indistinct small circular spot in front of it. Antennae 15 segments, the second the shortest. Anterior margin of the pronotum nearly straight, raised in the middle, the anterior lateral corners drooping downwards, the lateral margins converging rapidly posteriorly, the middle of the posterior margin shallowly concave.

Worker

Large form: head deep yellowish brown, the T-shaped suture pale on the dorsal surface, the region below the antennal sockets nearly yellow, the anterior lobe of the pronotum close to the head in colour, legs yellow. Head broadly circular, widest near the anterior part at the mandibular base, the fontanelle behind the junction of the T-shaped suture; on the left and right mandibles the posterior margin of the apical tooth is nearly as long as the anterior margin of marginal tooth 1, and the posterior margin of marginal tooth 2 of the right mandible is longer than the posterior margins of the apical tooth and of marginal tooth 1 respectively. Antennae 14 segments, rarely 15. Pronotum saddle-shaped; tibial spurs 2:2:2, tarsi 4-segmented. Medium form slightly paler, head shape and position of the fontanelle as in the large form, antennae 14 segments. Small form still paler, head shape and position of the fontanelle similar to the medium form, antennae 14 segments.

Nymph

Abstract (from the source)

Biology

Distribution and locality

Dongfang, Ledong, Yaxian, Lingshui and Qionghai, Hainan.

Taxonomic notes

Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 450 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.