Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington

Vol. 37, pp.83-86 February21, 1924

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

AN EXTRAORDINARY NEW RHINOTERMES FROM PANAMA.

BY

T. E.

SNYDER.

The major

soldier caste in the

genus

Rhinotermes

Hagen

possesses excellent specific characters; the soldier has powerful

mandibles

with marginalteeth

and

arelatively short

and broad

labrum.

The minor

^soldier,

on

the otherhand, has

an

elongate, slenderlabrium, forkedatthe

apex

(^'gabelnasutus")

and

fairly long, slender, pointed or vestigial mandibles. Recently,

how-

ever, several

new

^species

have been

collected, the

major

soldiers of

which have

elongate labrums, as well as well-developed mandibles.

The

following is a description of

one

of the

most

striking of these

new

species.

Rhinotermes longidens, newspecies.

Soldier (Large). (Plate X,fig.1).

— ^Head

^{strawyellow,labrumyellow-}

brown, mandiblesyellow atbase but castaneous-brown towards the apex andmarginalteeth^;head narrowsanteriorly^roundedposteriorly,scattered long^hairsonhead.

Labrum

elongateas insmallsoldier,broadestatbase, withlonghairsatapex. Mandibleselongate, slender,sharply pointedand incurvedat apex;prominent marginal^teeth

—

as in figure.

Antennaewhite withtingeofyellow, 15segments, withlonghairs;third segment slender, subclavate, shorter than second but longer than fourth segment; segmentsbead-like,becomelongerandbroadertowardsapex;last segmentnarrower, subelliptical.

Pronotumstrawyellow, marginsdarker,saddle-shaped, posteriormargin nearlya straight^line, anteriorlysharply raised up,narrowedandrounded;

few scattered long hairs on posterior margin, few fairly long and more numerousshorthairsonanterior margin.

Legs white with tinge of yellow, fairly elongate, slender, pubescent (hairs fairly long).

Abdomen

^pale straw yellow, with dense long hairs at baseof tergites, cerciprominent.

11—Proc.Biol. Soc.Wash.,Vol.37,1924. (83)

84 Proceedings of^theBiological Society ofWashington.

Measurements (LargeSoldier):

Lengthof entire soldier: 3.60

mm.

Lengthofhead withmandibles: 1.65

mm.

Lengthofhead withoutmandibles:(to anterior) LOO

mm.

Lengthof left mandible: 0.80

mm.

Lengthoflabium: 0.60

mm.

Lengthofpronotum: 0.27

mm.

Lengthofhindtibia: 0.76

mm.

Widthofhead(atwidest point): LOO

mm.

Width^oflabiumatapex: 0.15

mm.

Width^oflabiumatbase: 0.22

mm.

Width (aveiage) oflabiumatcentei: 0.15

mm.

Widthofpionotum: 0.55

mm.

R. longidensSnydei^issmalleithanR.longilabiusEmeison^ fiomBritish Guiana, but has a longei mandible withlaigei maiginalteeth, naiiowei labium andsmallei pionotum; on thelightmandiblethe uppei maiginal toothislaigeiandispaiallel tothe maiginofthemandible;theantennae have 15 segments,wheieastheie aie 16in longilabius. Onlythieespecies of Rhinotermes aie

known

fiom America wheie the majoi soldiei has an elongatelabium;inadditiontothetwospeciesmentioned, R. intermedius SnydeioccuisinBoUvia.

Soldier {Small). (Plate X, fig. 2).

— ^Head

^{pale stiaw yellow, paler}

posteiioily,labiumyellow-brown;broadest atposterior ofantennalsocket, sidessloperoundedlyto posterior,where rounded,conical atapex;headand labrum convex in profile; head with three rows of long hairs.

Labrum

elongate,slender, slightly constricted atbase, Avithalong hairand short hairs on each fork at the apex. Mandibular points vestigial

—

^hardly

visible.

Antennaeyellow, 14 segments,withlonghairs;thirdsegmentsubclavate, longer than second ^or fourthsegments; fourth segment short, bead-like;

segmentsbead-like,becomebroaderandlongertowardsapex;lastsegment pointedat apex.

Pronotum ^{pale yellow,} darker on margins, saddle-shaped, anterior marginsharplyturnedup,narrowedandrounded,sidesrounded, posterior marginslightlyroundedlyemarginate,with fewlonghairsonmargins.

Legs white withtingeofyellow, elongate,slender,withlonghairs.

Abdomen

pale yellowwithrows oflonghairsatbaseeachtergite, cerci prominent.

Measurements (SmallSoldier)^:

Length of entire soldier: 2.20-2.40

mm.

Lengthofhead with labrum: 1.05

mm.

Lengthofhead without labrum(toanterior)^: 0.57

mm.

Lengthoflabrum: 0.50

mm.

Lengthofpronotum: 0.22

mm.

Lengthofhindtibia: 0.57-0.60

mm.

IThecharacterization of R. longilabius^isbyA.EmersonoftheUniversity of Pittsburgh.

Proc. Biol. Soc.Wash., Vol. 37, 1924. Plate X.

I

'2

Rhinotermes lonqidens Snyder.

Snyder —

Extraordinary

New

Rhinotermes

from Panama, 85

Widthofhead (atwidest point)^: 0.50

mm.

Widthoflabrum (atforksat apex): 0.12

mm.

Widthoflabrum (atbaseandcenter): 0.05

mm.

Widthofpronotum: 0.35

mm.

R. longidensSnyderislightercolored,smallerandhasa narrowerlabrum thanR. longilabiusEmerson;ithas fewerhairsontheheadandhas not the long slendersharppointedmandiblesof longilabius.

Typelocality.

—

^{RioChinilla,C.Z.,Panama.}

Described from onelarge soldierandaseries ofsmallsoldiers collected with workersatthetypelocalityon June8,1923,byI.MolinoandJ.Zetek ina dry branchoffanoldtreetrunkontheground.

Type,largesoldier.—Cat. No.26533,U.S. N.

M.

Explanation of Plate.

PlateX.

Fig. 1. Rhinotermes longidens Snyder, MajorSoldier.

Dorsalview^ofheadandpronotum;note longlabrum. Greatly enlarged.

Fig. 2. Rhinotermes longidens Snyder, Minor Soldier (Gabel-Nasutus)

.

Dorsalview ^ofheadandpronotum. Greatlyenlarged.

DrawingsbyMissE. T.Armstrong.