Amitermes wheeleri ( Desneux, 1906 )

Scheffrahn, Rudolf H., 2022, Amitermes californicus Banks, 1920 (Isoptera, Termitidae, Termitinae) resurrected after ninety years of synonymy and A. floridensis Scheffrahn, 1989 synonymized into A. wheeleri (Desneux, 1906), Zootaxa 5128 (4), pp. 581-588 : 586

Amitermes wheeleri ( Desneux, 1906)

Light, 1930b: soldier mandibles figured 231 fig. 4.

Nutting 1990: soldier figured 1019 fig. 33.15b.

Scheffrahn et al. 1983: soldier figured; 1297 fig. 1.

Scheffrahn et al. 1986a: soldier figured; 662 fig. 1 (right).

Scheffrahn et al. 1989: soldier figured; 619 fig. 1.

Scheffrahn & Su 1994: soldier figured; 468 figs. 22–23.

Krishna et al. 2013: 2061–2062.

Amitermes floridensis Scheffrahn, Su, Mangold, 1989 syn. nov.

A key that includes the soldiers of Nearctic species of Amitermes was published by Nutting (1990) beginning with couplet 9a ( A. wheeleri ). This key did not include A. floridensis . In order to accommodate A. californicus , couplet 9a must be modified and another couplet (10) added as follows:

9a (8a) Teeth large, conical, directed inward.................................................................. 10

9b Teeth acute, cut out of margin and set off from basal hump by deep notch.................................... 11

10a (9a) Mandible blades and teeth stout, mean head width ca. 1.07 mm ( Figs. 3A, B , herein); common in the arid lands of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico...................................................... A. californicus Banks

10b Mandible blades and teeth slender, mean head width ca. 0.85 mm ( Figs. 3C–F , herein); common in the arid lands of the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and mesic central Florida but may be absent or rare in California......... A. wheeleri Light

The numbers for each succeeding couplet must be increased by one to complete the key.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Amitermes soldier head capsules, dorsal view: A, B. A. californicus from Twenty Nine Palms, California; C, D. A. wheeleri from Corpus Christi, Texas; E, F. A. wheeleri from St. Petersburg, Florida.