Subfamily Protohamitermitinae · 始钩白蚁亚科

About the subfamily

The subfamily Protohamitermitinae was established by Hellemans, Engel and Bourguignon in 2024 (21), with the type genus Protohamitermes Holmgren, 1912; the subfamily name is derived from the type genus name (proto-, “primitive” + Hamitermes, the latter containing the Latin hamus, “hook”). This catalogue includes 2 genera and 2 species.

This subfamily is an oligotypic group endemic to the Oriental realm. Both genera occur in Southeast Asia (Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia). Both genera lack soldiers, and the workers feed on decayed wood; their long, tubular ileum (P1) is coiled in a ring on the ventral side of the rectum, similar to Cylindrotermitinae and part of Apicotermitinae, and the Malpighian tubules of the hindgut are attached to the mixed segment by two pairs of knots. In the worker, the first and second marginal teeth of the right mandible each bear a well-developed subsidiary tooth at the base, with the anterior margin of the subsidiary tooth angular and the posterior margin arcuate, the most critical diagnostic feature of the worker of this subfamily; by this it can be distinguished from the soldier-bearing Cylindrotermitinae. Because it lacks a soldier caste and is morphologically specialized, the taxonomic position of this subfamily long remained unresolved; molecular analysis shows that the two genera form a monophyletic group (21). As an Oriental representative of the soldierless higher termites, this subfamily is of some significance for understanding the parallel evolution of the loss of the soldier caste.

This section is the standing account the site maintains for this rank and is updated on this page as the classification is revised; the checklist index is in the Checklist.