Roisinitermes ebogoensis Scheffrahn

Scheffrahn, Rudolf H., Bourguignon, Thomas, Akama, Pierre Dieudonne, Sillam-Dusses, David & Sobotnik, Jan, 2018, Roisinitermesebogoensis gen. & sp. n., an outstanding drywood termite with snapping soldiers from Cameroon (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae), ZooKeys 787, pp. 91-105 : 95-96

Roisinitermes ebogoensis Scheffrahn sp. n.

Material examined.

Holotype. Soldier from colony UF no. AFR3327. CAMEROON: Ebogo II, (+ 3.37723N, + 11.46135E), 647 m elev., 18FEB18, col. Raphael Onana, AFR3327 ca. 500 alates, 50 soldiers, and many pseudergates, nymphs, larvae, and eggs. Paratypes. CAMEROON, Ebogo II (+ 3.38273N, + 11.46190E), 664 m elev., 10DEC2016, col. Jan Šobotník and collaborators, AFR2982 4 soldiers (1 damaged), one female dealate, and 46 brachypterous nymphs.

Diagnosis.

See generic diagnosis above.

Description.

Winged Imago (Figure 2, Table 1) Head and pronotum light brownish orange; eye ovoid, anterior margin truncate abdominal tergites lighter, concolorous with legs and labrum; postclypeus nearly hyaline. Compound eyes black, of medium size and protrusion; ellipsoid but truncated near antennal socket, composed of approximately 85 facets. Ocelli not visible either by pigmentation or cuticular protrusion. Antennae with more than nine articles; formula 1>2=3=4<5. Pronotum width twice that of median length; several long and shorter setae project from lateral margins. Fore wing scale with basal origins of all major veins; wing membrane covered with papillae. Tibial spurs 3:3:3; tarsi without arolia.

Soldier (Figs 4-6; Table 2) Monomorphic. In dorsal view, head capsule yellowish orange in posterior grading to orange in middle and reddish brown from frons to anteclypeus. Three proximal antennal articles sepia brown; distal articles light brown. Post clypeus and labrum yellowish with brown highlights. Eye spots prominent; large, dark brown, elliptical; formed from a mass of discrete ommatidia. Pronotum concolorous with posterior head capsule. Head capsule in dorsal view, subrectangular; lateral margins nearly parallel, length 1.5 times width. Posterior corners of head evenly rounded; posterior margin rectate. In lateral and oblique view, head capsule almost cylindrical with only slight dorso-ventral compression; frons bilobed in dorsal view, crested with rugose longitudinal stripes, rugosity lateral below frons to mandibles. In lateral view, frons sloping from vertex ~45°; mandibles bow upward to form a 15° arch. Setae short and sparse on pronotum and head capsule. Periantennal carina rugose, in dorsal view partially eclipsing the first antennal article. Small horn-like projection at terminus of ventral genae. Mandibles stick-like; long, blade narrower in middle than distal third, dentition very weak; left mandible with faint equilateral tooth approx. three fifths from base, serrations along blade from tooth to tip. Right mandible with single tooth approx. one third distance from base; blade narrowest before tooth; after tooth blade widens slightly and then gradually narrows at tip. In dorsal view, basal humps project sharply as rugose hemispheres. In lateral view, humps are columnar and equal in height to that of the mandibles. Anteclypeus shallowly incised in middle; labrum linguiform with gradual point; 4-5 long terminal setae. Antennae with 12-13 articles, third antennal article subclavate, barely shorter than fourth and fifth combined. Pronotum collar-shaped; much wider than long. Anterior margin weakly concave; lateral margins weakly convex, posterior margin forming 25° angle with incised middle. Femora moderately inflated, tibial spurs 3:3:3. Habitus as in Figure 6.

Brachypterous nymph (Fig. 3, Table 3) Body hyaline. Head, thorax, and abdomen similar in shape and pilosity of imago. Compound eyes with approx. 85 dark facets; both eyes and facets smaller than imago. Antennae with 15 articles; formula 1>2>3=4=5. Left mandible with anterior margin of marginal tooth 1.5 times longer than length of the posterior margin of the first plus second marginal tooth. Right mandible with posterior margin of second marginal tooth 1.4 times as long as molar plate.

Biology and distribution.

The type colony of R. ebogoensis was collected in the forest on an island in the Nyong River near the Ebogo II village. The colony lived in a relatively thin (3 cm) and long (over 3 m) broad-leaf tree branch suspended from the canopy approximately 2 m above the ground. The colony contained roughly 2,000 members. A second colony of R. ebogoensis was collected in a nearly pristine rain forest near the village of Ebogo II. The colony was taken from a dead liana branch (ca. 15 mm diam.) hanging from the canopy at a height of approx. 1 m above the ground. Liana stems have been generally overlooked as a colonization site for Kalotermitidae ( Scheffrahn et al. 2018). In light of Emerson’s 1925 description of Cryptotermes cubioceps from a single soldier collected from a dead liana, this host should be probed routinely as a colonization site for kalotermitids.

Etymology.

The species is named for the village of Ebogo II, the type locality for this termite.