Ruptitermes maraca, Acioli, Agno Nonato Serrão & Constantino, Reginaldo, 2015

Acioli, Agno Nonato Serrão & Constantino, Reginaldo, 2015, A taxonomic revision of the neotropical termite genus Ruptitermes (Isoptera, Termitidae, Apicotermitinae), Zootaxa 4032 (5), pp. 451-492 : 471-472

Ruptitermes maraca , new species

Holotype: worker from lot INPA-671

Type-locality: BRAZIL: Roraima: Amajari, Ilha de Maracá (ca. lat 3.45N long 61.35W)

Type-repository: INPA.

Paratypes: Roraima: Boa Vista, 14.v.1977, A.G. Bandeira col., workers (INPA-108). Amajari, Ilha de Maracá , 11.ii.1988, A.G. Bandeira col., workers (INPA-456); 11.ii.1988, C.F. Sena col., workers (INPA-475); 15.ii.1988, C.F. Sena col., workers (INPA-570); 17.ii.1988, A.G. Bandeira col., workers (INPA-611); 22.ii.1988, A.G. Bandeira col., workers (INPA-671, UnB-9943); 23.x.1987, A.G. Bandeira col., workers (INPA-217); 24.ii.1988, C.F. Sena col., workers (INPA-676); 26.x.1987, A.G. Bandeira col., workers (INPA-285).

Etymology. Named after the type-locality, Ilha de Maracá , as a noun in apposition.

Imago. Unknown.

Worker ( Figs. 13 , 22 I, 25B–C). Head capsule rounded, yellow, paler anteriorly, with a few bristles and no short hairs. Postclypeus large and inflated, paler than head capsule, with one long bristle near the center of each lobe. Fontanelle small and inconspicuous, a little paler than head capsule. Frontal marks rounded, paler than head capsule. Mandibles similar to those of R. xanthochiton ; notch on left mandible forming an angle of about 45°. Thoracic nota yellow, paler than head capsule, with bristles along margins only, and no short hairs. Procoxa with 4 spine-like bristles on anterior surface, arranged along a curved line ( Fig. 13 C). Meso- and metacoxa without spinelike bristles. Profemur without thick bristles on inner margin, with many thin bristles of variable size arranged irregularly. Protibia slender, not inflated, with two irregular rows of spine-like bristles along inner margin ( Fig. 13 B). Tergites yellowish, hyaline, paler than thoracic nota, with two rows of bristles and many short hairs on surface. Dehiscent glands small, usually reaching only the first abdominal segment, sometimes the second one. Enteric valve unsclerotized; ridges moderately elongate, reticulated with large and faint pentagonal or hexagonal cells; cells become somewhat smaller near a raised region located on the anterior part of the ridge, which has a distinct, nipple-like process in the middle ( Fig. 25 B–C). Measurements in Table 2 .

Comparisons. The workers of R. maraca can be recognized by their small size, yellow head, inflated postclypeus and inconspicuous fontanelle.

Distribution. Known only from the grasslands of Roraima, Brazil ( Fig. 28 ).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Worker of Ruptitermes maraca, sp. n. A, habitus; B, procoxae; C, mandibles; D, head in profile; E, head in dorsal view.; F, protibia.

FIGURE 22. Worker heads of Ruptitermes, showing pilosity. All figures in the same scale.

FIGURE 25. Enteric valve armature of workers of Ruptitermes. A, R. krishnai; B – C, R. maraca; D, R. piliceps; E – F, R. pitan; G – H, R. reconditus; I – J, R. xanthochiton. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 28. Geographic range of Ruptitermes maraca, sp. n., R. piliceps, sp. n., and R. pitan, sp. n.