Stylotermes mecocephalus 长头杆白蚁
- Type locality
- China: Guangxi Province:: Jingxi Xian
- Distribution
- China
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Stylotermes mecocephalus is a species of the genus Stylotermes, in the family STYLOTERMITIDAE. The species was described by Ping & Li in 1978; the type locality is China: Guangxi Province:: Jingxi Xian. Distribution: China.
Etymology
Genus name Stylotermes: From Greek stylos (pillar, style) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet mecocephalus: Greek mēkos (length) + kephalē (head), long-headed
Taxonomic position
- Family: STYLOTERMITIDAE — 1 genus, 45 species
- Genus: Stylotermes — 45 species
- Type species of the genus: Stylotermes fletcheri
Distribution
- Distribution records: China
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
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, the frontal region brown, the anterior half of the mandibles blackish brown, labrum pale yellow; the flange over the antennal socket and the basal segments of the antennae brown, becoming paler towards the apex, the body pale yellowish white except for the darker margins of the pronotum. Head capsule rectangular and narrow, the lateral margins parallel, the posterior margin broadly rounded. Fontanelle pore very small, about 0.03 mm in diameter. Labrum semicircular, the labral apex bluntly rounded, the labral margin semi-transparent and bearing long setae. The outer margin of the mandibles curves in a broad arc, the apices slightly incurved; the middle to lower part of the inner margin of both mandibles bears a small triangular tooth, that of the right mandible slightly nearer the base; the base of the left mandible has a large process whose anterior notch is nearly a right angle, while the base of the right mandible has a rounded process. Antennae 12–14-segmented, segment 1 equal to or slightly longer than segment 3; the flange over the antennal socket very large, able to conceal the lateral margins of the head completely. The broad part of the postmentum bears punctate sculpture at the centre and is exposed beyond the lower margin of the head in lateral view. The anterior margin of the pronotum is shallowly concave, the posterior margin markedly concave, the lateral margins narrowing backwards, the femora inflated.
Alate
Worker
Nymph
Abstract (from the source)
Soldier: head yellow with a brown frontal area, the head capsule rectangular and distinctly elongate, sides parallel, posterior margin broadly rounded. Fontanelle a minute pit about 0.03 mm across, slightly raised. Labrum semicircular, its margin translucent and bearing long setae. Mandibles with a wide curved outer edge, each inner margin carrying a small triangular tooth near mid-length and a large basal process. Antennae twelve to fourteen segmented. Pronotum with a shallow anterior incision and strongly concave posterior margin. The species lives in damp dead wood in southern China.
Biology
Distribution and locality
Jingxi, Guangxi (altitude 550 m).
Taxonomic notes
Source: Huang Fusheng et al. (2000), Fauna Sinica, Insecta vol. 17, Isoptera, Science Press. (entry no. 238 in the original work) Entries are cited by their number in the original work.
Distribution map
No GBIF record with coordinates was found for this species.
Related papers
Cached papers for this genus (matched automatically, for reference); to search this species with its junior synonyms merged in, use the literature search.
- A new species of the genus Stylotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
Abstract
- 9 new species of the genus stylotermes from china isoptera
Abstract
- The trail-following communication in Stylotermes spp. (Blattodea, Isoptera, Stylotermitidae)
Abstract
Stylotermitidae appear peculiar among all termites, feeding in trunks of living trees in South Asia only. The difficulty to collect them limits our ability to study them, and they thus still belong to critically unknown groups in respect to their biology. We used a combined approach of microscopic observations, chemical analysis and behavioural tests, to understand the source and chemical nature of the trail-following pheromone of Stylotermes faveolus from India and S. halumicus from Taiwan. The sternal gland is the exclusive source of the trail-following pheromone in both Stylotermes species. It is located at the 5th abdominal sternite in workers, made of class I, II and III secretory cells. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry showed a minor peak corresponding to (Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol (DOE). This compound elicits strong behavioural responses in workers, with a trail-following activity threshold around 10− 4 ng/cm in both species. Based on both chemical analysis and behavioural experiments, we estimated the amount of DOE around 0.1 ng/gland in S. faveolus and we conclude that DOE is the only active component of the trail-following pheromone of both Stylotermes species, like in all Kalotermitidae studied so far. Our results confirm the switch from complex aldehyde trail-following pheromones occurring in the basal groups to simpler linear alcohols in the ancestor of Kalotermitidae and Neoisoptera.
Papers on this species, synonyms included → OpenAlex Google Scholar CNKI
Abstracts come from open metadata; copyright remains with the original authors/publishers. For reference only — please check the original.
Other species in Stylotermes (44 species)
- Stylotermes acrofrons
- Stylotermes ahmadi
- Stylotermes alpinus
- Stylotermes angustignathus
- Stylotermes beesoni
- Stylotermes bengalensis
- Stylotermes chakratensis
- Stylotermes changtingensis
- Stylotermes chengduensis
- Stylotermes chongqingensis
- Stylotermes choui
- Stylotermes crinis
- Stylotermes curvatus
- Stylotermes dunensis
- Stylotermes faveolus
- Stylotermes fletcheri
- Stylotermes fontanellus
- Stylotermes guiyangensis
- Stylotermes halumicus
- Stylotermes hanyuanicus
- Stylotermes inclinatus
- Stylotermes jinyunicus
- Stylotermes labralis
- Stylotermes laticrus
- Stylotermes latilabrum
- Stylotermes latipedunculus
- Stylotermes lianpingensis
- Stylotermes longignathus
- Stylotermes minutus
- Stylotermes mirabilis
- Stylotermes orthognathus
- Stylotermes parabengalensis
- Stylotermes planifrons
- Stylotermes robustus
- Stylotermes roonwali
- Stylotermes setosus
- Stylotermes sinensis
- Stylotermes sui
- Stylotermes triplanus
- Stylotermes tsaii
44 species in this genus. See all species on the genus page →
Cite this species
Citation strings are generated from the fields of this page; please keep the DOI and the version number when citing.
GB/T 7714
班奈特格林. Extant Isoptera (termites): a checklist of Latin and Chinese names: Stylotermes mecocephalus 长头杆白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/stylotermes-mecocephalus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_stylotermes_mecocephalus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Stylotermes mecocephalus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/stylotermes-mecocephalus/},
note = {STYLOTERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Stylotermes mecocephalus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/stylotermes-mecocephalus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -