Anhangatermes pilosus, Oliveira, Danilo E., Cunha, Hélida F. & Constantino, Reginaldo, 2014

Oliveira, Danilo E., Cunha, Hélida F. & Constantino, Reginaldo, 2014, A taxonomic revision of the soil-feeding termite genus Anhangatermes (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae), Zootaxa 3869 (5), pp. 523-536 : 524

Genus Anhangatermes Constantino 1990

Imago (described here for the first time, from A. pilosus , sp. n.). Head capsule ovoid from dorsal view. Eyes and ocelli large. Fontanelle roughly triangular. Mandibles with large apical teeth. Left mandible index about 1.5 (n = 1). Left mandible: M1 well-developed; M2 absent; M3 very short and rounded; cutting edge between M1 and M3 concave, slightly sinuous; point of M4 hidden behind molar prominence in dorsal view. Right mandible: M1 welldeveloped; M2 vestigial; molar plate concave, broad, without ridges. Antenna with 15 articles. Tibial spurs 2:2:2. Wings densely covered with asteroid micrasters ( Roonwal 1983).

Soldier. Head capsule broad and rounded. Nasus subcylindrical, long and slender. Vestigial mandibles with or without very short points; when present, points are hidden under the labrum. Antenna with 13 articles. Chaetotaxy of head, thorax and abdomen variable among different species. Tibial spurs 2:2:2.

Worker. Mandibular dimorphism present: “narrow gap” ( Fig. 1 A) and “wide gap” ( Fig. 1 B). Worker with “wide gap” rare. Crop with fine pectinated scales near gizzard. Gizzard of generalized type ( Fig. 2 ), with 24 short columns and 12 pulvilli. Only ridges I, II and IV are visible. Column I with a slightly curved spine on anterior edge and pulvilli II with a smaller, often bifurcated spine. Pulvillar belt covered with very fine cuticular filaments. T/H index = 0.18; C/H index = 0.07; overlap index = 75%. Enteric valve armature with 6 sclerotized plates ( Fig. 3 ), armed with conical spines of variable size; large plates alternate with small plates, showing radial symmetry. Two different types of enteric valve armature in this genus: a short one with a row of large spines on the posterior end of each plate (as described for the type species) and a long one, with elongate plates lacking the row of long spines on the posterior end. Chaetotaxy of head, thorax, and abdomen variable.

Remarks. 1) Reexamination of soldiers from the type series of A. macarthuri revealed that their mandibles do have very short points, which are usually hidden under the labrum. A similar type of mandible is present in soldiers of A. eurycephalus sp. n., while the other three new species have rounded mandibles without points. 2) Despite its complexity and great variation, the gizzard armature is often neglected as a taxonomic character and remains undescribed or superficially described for most genera. The presence of spines on columns and pulvilli has not been previously recorded for neotropical genera of the Subulitermes group. According to Noirot (2001), they are present in the African genera Postsubulitermes , Verrucositermes , and Eutermellus .

Geographic distribution. Anhangatermes is known only from Brazil, with three species known from the Amazon region and two from the savannas (cerrado) of central Brazil ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Mandibles of Anhangatermes. A, worker of A. pilosus, sp. n. (narrow gap); B, worker of A. eurycephalus, sp. n. (wide gap); C, imago of A. pilosus, sp. n.

FIGURE 2. Gizzard armature of Anhangatermes anhanguera, sp. n.

FIGURE 3. Enteric valve armature of Anhangatermes. A, A. anhanguera, sp. n.; B – C: A. eurycephalus, sp. n. (C is a crosssection in posterior view); D, A. juruena, sp. n.; E, A. pilosus, sp. n.

FIGURE 4. Geographic range of Anhangatermes (dark gray) and locality records of each species.