Ngauratermes arue, Constantino, Reginaldo & Acioli, Agno N. S., 2009

Constantino, Reginaldo & Acioli, Agno N. S., 2009, Ngauratermes arue, new genus and species of nasute termite (Isoptera: Termitidae) from the Amazon, Zootaxa 2239, pp. 22-30 : 27-30

Ngauratermes arue , new species

Holotype: major soldier, part of lot UnB-5809, collected by A.N.S. Acioli., 22.II.2004. Deposited in the collection of the Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília.

Type-locality: BRAZIL. Amazonas State. Benjamin Constant, Nova Aliança (4°21'18" S 69°36'5" W).

Paratypes: 8 lots, all with major and minor soldiers and workers, same data as holotype, except as follows: lots UnB-5809, UnB-5813, UnB-5815, and UnB-583, same date; lots UnB-6012, UnB-6016, UnB- 6019, and UnB-6020, collected in 29.III.2004. Some paratypes will be deposited in the collections of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo and the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, both in Brazil.

Etymology: from the Ticuna language “arü” = small. Combined with the genus name it means small termite from the litter.

Measurement Holotype Major soldier Minor soldier Worker 1 Worker 2 (n = 20) (n = 20) (n = 36) (n = 6) Imago. Unknown.

Soldiers ( Figs. 1 A–D, 2A, 5B). Major and minor soldiers differ only in the size and shape of their heads. Major soldiers seem to occur in higher proportion (65 out of a total of 107 soldiers in the type series). Head capsule orange-yellow; nasus darker, ferruginous orange; antennae about the same color as head capsule; palps and labrum yellow; tergites and thoracic nota yellowish, transparent; sternites lighter colored than tergites; legs yellowish. Head capsule with four bristles near frons and two near vertex; head covered with numerous very short hairs (easily visible at 20-30 X magnification and good illumination). Nasus covered with similar short hairs, becoming longer near tip. Clypeus with two bristles plus short hairs. Labrum with several short hairs, but without bristles. Postmentum with many short hairs and no bristles. Thoracic nota without bristles. Anterior and posterior margins of pronotum with short hairs similar to those on head capsule. Meso- and metanotum with short hairs on posterior margin. Tergites and sternites with a row of bristles near posterior margin; surface of tergites with numerous short hairs, similar to those on head capsule; sternites with longer hairs than tergites. Legs with many short hairs and a few bristles; without spines. Relative length of antennal articles ( Fig. 2 A): 2 = 3 = 5> 4; articles 6-13 about the same length, a little longer than 5.

Workers ( Figs. 1 E-G, 2-4, 5A). Head capsule uniformly pale yellow (type 1) or with a tinge of orange near vertex (type 2); thorax, legs, and antenna a little lighter colored than head; tergites and sternites nearly transparent. Head capsule, postclypeus and labrum with numerous short hairs of variable length, but no bristles. Distribution of hairs on body and legs similar to that of soldiers, but hairs on tergites are longer, about the same length as those on sternites.

Biology. All specimens were collected in sites of primary rain forest, foraging in the litter layer. Based on the morphology of the mandibles and its similarities with Velocitermes and Diversitermes , Ngauratermes arue probably feeds on leaf litter on the forest floor.

Figures

FIGURES 1. Ngauratermes arue, new species. A, head of major soldier in dorsal view; B, same in profile; C, head of minor soldier in dorsal view; D, same in profile; E, head of worker (type 1) in dorsal view; F, same in profile; G, molar plate of right worker mandible (type 1).

FIGURES 2. Ngauratermes arue, new species. A, Antenna of major soldier and workers; B, foreleg of worker type 1; C, mandibles of worker type 1; D, mandibles of worker type 2 (a little worn).