Pericapritermes parvus Bourguignon & Roisin

Bourguignon, Thomas, Leponce, Maurice & Roisin, Yves, 2008, Revision of the Termitinae with snapping soldiers (Isoptera: Termitidae) from New Guinea, Zootaxa 1769, pp. 1-34 : 20-22

Pericapritermes parvus Bourguignon & Roisin , sp. nov.

( Figs 33–36 , 55–56 , 67 )

Holotype: INDONESIA. Irian Jaya. Authors' collection reference # IRJT 165: soldier, Pusppenssat Irja (50 km from Nabire on Ilaga road): 26.xi.1995, YR. In the collection of the MBBJ.

Paratypes: INDONESIA. Irian Jaya. Authors' collection reference # IRJT 165 (same colony as holotype): alates, soldiers and workers. In the collections of the MBBJ and IRSN. PAPUA NEW GUINEA. ANIC. Enga. #10–11020: Baiyer River (alt. 1200m): 24.i.1963, JHB.

Imago ( Figs 55–56 ). Entire body densely hairy. Head capsule covered by many short setae and few large setae. Eyes very large. Ocelli very large, close to the eyes but not touching them. Pronotum densely hairy, wider anteriorly than posteriorly. Antennae 15-segmented. Measurements as in Table 13 .

Soldier ( Figs 33–34 ). Small size ( Table 14 ). Head capsule elongated, rounded posteriorly, slightly narrower anteriorly than posteriorly, covered by about 60 long setae. Head rising vertically above the fontanelle, as is Discupiditermes. Labrum short, cover by some setae. Postmentum deep, narrow and elongated, with widest part less or more 2.5 times larger than the narrowest part. Antennae 14-segmented. Thorax and abdomen fairly hairy.

Worker ( Figs 35, 36 ). Enteric valve with cushions each covered by about 10 small triangular spines. Measurements as in Table 18 .

Diagnosis. This species can be easily distinguished from other New Guinean species by its very small size and by the frons of the soldier showing a slight hump.

Distribution ( Fig. 67 ). Known from 2 samples, one (type colony) from hill forest in Western Irian Jaya, one from the Baiyer River valley in the Papua New Guinea highlands.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to little size of this species.

Figures

FIGURE 67. Known distribution of, Pericapritermes cf. schultzei;, Pericapritermes parvus sp. nov.;, Pericapritermes pilosus sp. nov.;, Pericapritermes papuanus sp. nov. Arrows indicate type localities. ˖, type locality of P. schultzei.

FIGURES 33 – 36. Pericapritermes parvus sp. nov. (type colony): 33, soldier head, dorsal; 34, soldier head, lateral; 35, worker mandibles; 36, enteric valve. Scale bars: 33, 34, 1 mm.

FIGURES 45 – 56. Alate. Protocapritermes odontomachus: 45, head; 46, pronotum. Ephelotermes paleatus: 47, head; 48, pronotum. Ephelotermes cheeli: 49, head; 50, pronotum. Lophotermes brevicephalus: 51, head; 52, pronotum. Macrognathotermes errator: 53, head; 54, pronotum. Pericapritermes parvus sp. nov.: 55, head; 56, pronotum. Scale bars: 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54, 56, 0.2 mm; 45, 51, 53, 55, 0.5 mm.

Tables

TABLE 13. Measurements (mm) of 3 male and 1 female imagoes from 1 colony of Pericapritermes parvus sp. nov.

	Male	Female
Length with wings	10.95–11.79	11.41
Length without wings	5.67–6.42	6.03
Head length to apex of the labrum	1.25–1.37	1.30
Head length to clypeo-frontal suture	0.68–0.74	0.75
Head width with eyes	1.12–1.20	1.12
Eye maximum diameter	0.37–0.38	0.42
Ocellus maximum length	0.17–0.19	0.17
Pronotum length	0.49–0.53	0.54
Pronotum width	0.90–0.95	0.89
Forewing length	8.66–9.46	9.48
Forewing width	2.28–2.51	2.39