Cyrilliotermes Fontes

Constantino, Reginaldo & Carvalho, Sérgio H. C., 2012, A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical termite genus Cyrilliotermes Fontes (Isoptera, Termitidae, Syntermitinae), Zootaxa 3186, pp. 25-41 : 26

Genus Cyrilliotermes Fontes

Cyrilliotermes Fontes 1985: 10

Type species: Cyrilliotermes cupim Fontes, 1985 , which is a synonym of Cyrilliotermes strictinasus (Mathews, 1977) .

Imago. Head capsule rounded or oval from dorsal view, covered with scattered long bristles and many microscopic hairs (visible only at very high magnifications and favorable light). Coronal branch of the ecdysial line conspicuous; frontal branches inconspicuous. Eyes and ocelli large. Fontanelle small, inconspicuous or just a little paler than head capsule. Postclypeus moderately inflated, midline visible. Mandibles similar to those of the worker, but with narrower molar plate. Antenna with 15 articles. Pronotum trapezoidal, with rounded angles. Posterior margin of meso- and metanotum concave or angular. Each tibia with two apical spurs; other spurs absent. Wings with dense short hairs; microsculpturing absent on most parts of the wing; tiny tubercles present on the proximal region, especially on the major veins and between the costal margin and R S.

Soldier. Monomorphic. Head capsule variable, from rounded to moderately elongate or angular; lateral sides convex. Nasus well developed, either conical or subcylindrical, wrinkled with transverse ridges. Tip of nasus broadening abruptly; frontal pore surrounded by many short hairs. Head and thorax with long bristles; head with sparse microscopic hairs, more numerous on nasus (visible only with magnification of 100× or higher and with dark field illumination). Mandibles short, strongly curved, with two marginal teeth each. M1 short and triangular; M2 large, with rounded tip; molar region well developed, worker-like. Postclypeus not inflated, forming an angle of about 45° with the longitudinal axis of the head. Labrum roughly triangular ( Fig. 8 C). Antenna with 14 articles, shorter than head with nasus. Forecoxa with a shallow anterior process, without spines ( Fig. 8 D). Each tibia with two apical spurs; other spurs absent.

Worker. Monomorphic. Head capsule rounded trapezoid or hemi-ellipsoid, widest in front. Postclypeus inflated, with a distinct median line. Mandibles with very large apical teeth. Left mandible: M1 large; M2 absent; M3 small; cutting edge between M1 and M3 moderately concave. Right mandible: M1 large; M2 very small; molar plate concave, without ridges. Left mandible index 1.9–2.1. Antenna with 14 articles. Gut morphology: crop small, gizzard moderately developed; ratio of columnar belt to width of head about 0.15; pulvilli I shorter than columns; about 30% of column length covered by pulvilli I, mixed segment with a single mesenteric lobe on the outer side; distal portion of the mesenteric lobe not inflated; anterior portion of mixed segment cylindrical; posterior portion broad and continuous with P1, malpighian tubules inserted together, with a united base, at the junction of mesenteron and proctodeum; proximal part of the tubules not dilated, P1 large and dilated, P2 oval, located posteriorly and inserted diagonally into P3 at the left side, at about half the length of the abdomen, enteric valve armature well developed, with 3 finger-like cushions of similar size with many bristle-like spines alternating with spiny areas without defined plates, P3 larger than P1 and conspicuously wrinkled. Worker morphology with very little variation among species.

Diagnosis. Soldiers of Cyrilliotermes can be distinguished by their short mandibles with large molar region and their long nasus with a broad, doughnut-shaped tip. Workers can be identified by their mandibles with very large apical teeth and the position of the enteric valve, which is visible by transparency. It is currently not possible to present a diagnosis for the imago because they are unknown for C. brevidens and C. crassinasus and also for several related genera.

Figures

FIGURES 8. Cyrilliotermes strictinasus. Soldier. A, head in profile; B, head in dorsal view; C, labrum; D, foreleg; E, tip of frontal tube. Worker. F,, head in profile; G, head in dorsal view.