Prorhinotermes flavus (Bugnion and Popoff, 1910)

(Figures 8A–D, 14C)

Coptotermes flavus Bugnion and Popoff, 1910: 117–120, pl.2, figs.14–20.

Arrhinotermes flavus, Holmgren, 1911: 551 .

Prorhinotermes flavus, Snyder, 1949: 86 .

Arrhinotermes japonicus Holmgren, 1912: 122 .

Prorhinotermes japonicus, Snyder, 1949: 86 . Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004: 94.

Arrhinotermes krakataui Holmgren, 1913:69 .

Prorhinotermes krakataui, Snyder, 1949, 87. Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004, 94.

Termitogetonella tibiaoensis Oshima, 1920:496 .

Prorhinotermes tibiaoensis, Snyder, 1949, 88. Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004, 95.

Prorhinotermes gracilis Light, 1921: 54 . Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004, 95.

Prorhinotermes tibiaoensiformis Ahmad, 1965: 23–24, fig.17. Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004, 95.

Prorhinotermes ravani Roonwal and Maiti, 1966: 84–90, figs.3–4. Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004, 95.

Prorhinotermes panaitanensis Thakur and Thakur, 1992: 251–257, figs.14–15. Synonymized by Gathorne-Hardy, 2004, 95.

Material examined

THAILAND: Petchabun: Wang Nok An, 11 April 1962, M. Ahmad coll. (type colony of tibiaoensiformis) [NHML] .

Diagnosis

Soldier. Head and pronotum yellow, sparsely hairy. Postmentum with several hairs only on the anterolateral margins. Head oval, widest at the posterior quarter, narrowed anteriorly. Fontanelle small, circular, with a groove running in frons. Eyes whitish but distinct, broadly oval. Mandible long, sabre-shaped, weakly incurved. Antennae with 15 segments. Postmentum much longer than wide.

Measurements (mm)

Two soldiers from one series: HL, 1.70, 1.72; mHW, 1.40, 1.50; LML, 1.20, 1.23; PL, 0.60, 0.60; PW, 1.10, 1.19; PosL, 1.10,1.10; PosW, 0.48, 0.50.

Distribution

Thailand (North), India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Krakatau.

Remarks

Ahmad (1965) described this small series from northern Thailand as P. tibiaoensiformis . We did not collect this species during our survey. In this paper, I investigated the specimens from the type colony deposited in NHML. According to the original description, P. tibiaoensiformis was very similar to P. tibiaoensis but was distinguished from it by having less strongly curved mandibles and smaller pronotum. However, these characters were variable and both P. tibiaoensis and P. tibiaoensiformis were put into P. flavus as junior synonyms of the species by Gathorne-Hardy (2004). Gathorne-Hardy (2004) also considered five other species, japonicus, krakataui, gracilis, ravani and panaitanensis, as junior synonyms of P. flavus because these variations fell into the intraspecific variation of P. flavus . Ahmad collected it from Wang Nok An, which is located 400 km from the coast. This species is usually associated with coastal forests and mangroves.