Krishnatermitidae Engel, 2021

JIANG, RI-XIN, ZHANG, HONG-RUI, ELDREDGE, K. TARO, SONG, XIAO-BIN, LI, YAN-DA, TIHELKA, ERIK, HUANG, DI-YING, WANG, SHUO, ENGEL, MICHAEL S. & CAI, CHEN-YANG, 2021, Further evidence of Cretaceous termitophily: Description of new termite hosts of the trichopseniine Cretotrichopsenius (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), with emendations to the classification of lower termites (Isoptera), Palaeoentomology 4 (4), pp. 374-389 : 380

Krishnatermitidae Engel , fam. nov.

Type genus. Krishnatermes Engel et al., 2016 .

Diagnosis. Krishnatermitidae are seemingly intermediate in divergence between other basal Euisoptera and Mastotermitidae ( Engel et al., 2009, 2016), particularly owing to the lack of a hind wing basal suture (i. e., without defined hind wing scale, a trait otherwise found in all other Euisoptera ), symplesiomorphically shared with mastotermitids. They also share the primitive features of a broad pronotum, procoxal ventral carina/keel, wholly pentamerous tarsi, a large forewing scale with all primary veins originating within the scale, and the forewing with multiple elongate radial veins encompassing a uniformly wide radial field. Krishnatermitidae differ from in the absence of ocelli (present in Mastotermitinae ), presence of a subsidiary tooth (absent in Mastotermitidae , present in Archotermopsidae ), shorter antennae with 14–18 antennomeres (20–32 in Mastotermitidae ), absence of an occipital sulcus (present in Mastotermitidae as well as Ithytermes Sánchez-García et al., 2020 ), forewing M sclerotized as CuA rather than Rs (M sclerotized as Rs rather than CuA in Mastotermitidae ), hind wing without anal lobe (present in Mastotermitidae ), and reduced number of cercomeres, with 2–3 cercomeres (five in Mastotermitidae and Ithytermes ). Additional traits are summarized by Engel et al. (2016). Krishnatermitidae lack a ventral cervical sclerite and fontanelle.

The family presently includes only Krishnatermes and quite likely Ithytermes , although several other poorly known Cretaceous genera could potentially belong here.