Parrhinotermes microdentiformisoides Thapa, 1981

Takematsu, Yoko & Vongkaluang, Charunee, 2012, A taxonomic review of the Rhinotermitidae (Isoptera) of Thailand, Journal of Natural History 46 (17 - 18), pp. 1079-1109 : 1091-1093

Parrhinotermes microdentiformisoides Thapa, 1981

( Figures 7A–F , 14B )

Parrhinotermes microdentiformisoides Thapa, 1981: 106–108 , pl.35.

Material examined

THAILAND: Surat Thani: three series, Khao Sok National Park , 400 m alt., 5 November 2002, Y. Takematsu coll.

Redescription

Soldier. Head capsule pale yellow; antennae pale yellow; labrum pale brownish yellow; mandibles brown, paler basally. Thoracic nota pale yellow; legs and abdomen pale yellow. Head sparsely hairy; labrum with several hairs on the anterior half and many minute hairs along the anterior margin; pronotum with a few hairs on the surface and many hairs along margin. Postmentum with scattered hairs. Head capsule subrectangular, widest at posterior third, longer than wide, mHW / HL 0.86–0.91 (0.88). Fontanelle small, circular. Eyes absent. Antennae with 13 segments; third segment much longer than second and fourth. Labrum broadly rounded. Mandibles broad basally, strongly incurved, inner margin of bases finely serrated, mandibles half the length of the head, LML / HL 0.49–0.52 (0.50); left mandible strongly bent in middle, with two broadly triangular marginal teeth, first marginal tooth located at middle, much bigger than second; right mandible with a marginal tooth in the middle, not pointed, posterior cutting edge strongly concave. Postmentum almost three times as long as the maximum width; widest almost at the anterior third; narrowest at the posterior third. Pronotum flat, with anterior margin slightly convex, notched in middle. Mesonotum slightly narrower than pronotum. Metanotum almost as wide as pronotum.

Measurements (mm)

Ten soldiers from three series: HL, 1.08–1.20 (1.15) mHW, 0.98–1.07 (1.01); LML, 0.58–0.60 (0.58); PL, 0.30–0.32 (0.31); PW, 0.58–0.61 (0.59); PosL, 0.85–0.90 (0.87); PosW, 0.29–0.32 (0.31).

Distribution

Thailand (South), Borneo. New record for Thailand.

Remarks

This species was collected only from Khao Sok, south of the Kra Isthmus. This species and Parrhinotermes microdentiformis Thapa, 1981 are similar and easily distinguished from the other species in the genus by having a marginal tooth on the right mandible with its posterior cutting edge strongly concave. But P. microdentiformisoides is distinctly smaller than P. microdentiformis .

Figures

Figure 7. Soldier of Parrhinotermes microdentiformisoides Thapa. (A) Head, dorsal view; (B) head, lateral view; (C) pronotum; (D) postmentum; (E) antenna; (F) mandibles. Scale bar 0.5 mm.

Figure 14. Distribution of Parrhinotermes, Prorhinotermes and Schedorhinotermes in Thailand. (A) Parrhinotermes buttelreepeni; (B) Parrhinotermes microdentiformisoides; (C) Prorhinotermes flavus; (D) Schedorhinotermes malaccensis; (E) Schedorhinotermes medioobscurus; (F) Schedorhinotermes rectangularis.