Overview
In the Heterotermitinae, the alates have elongate-oval heads with flattened sides, and the wing membrane is slightly reticulate. The soldiers have long, rectangular heads, with sabre-like mandibles devoid of obvious marginal teeth.
Heterotermes
(perhaps 12 spp.) are all small, and are widely distributed throughout mainland Australia in both coastal and inland areas. Their taxonomy is not clearly understood (Watson et al. 1989). The colonies are usually small, and are found in the soil, in or under logs and stumps, in dieback wood, and in the mounds of other species of termite. All species are wood-eaters, commonly weathered wood, and some are of economic importance.
In the Coptotermitinae, the alates have heads circular in plan, a small clypeus, a relatively broad pronotum, and the wing membrane is not reticulate. The soldiers have pyriform heads with a conspicuous fontanelle, and sabre-shaped mandibles without obvious marginal teeth.
Coptotermes
(10 or more spp.) is widely distributed throughout the mainland, and readily recognised by the soldiers' habit of exuding a drop of milky fluid from the frontal gland when disturbed. All species appear to form large colonies, which may exceed a million individuals. The nests are subterranean, or in stumps or hollowed trunks of dead or living trees, or in domed or conical mounds up to 3 m high. This mound-building habit is unusual in
Coptotermes
for, although the genus is widespread in the warmer regions of the world, it builds mounds only in Australia. The mounds are characterised by a clay outer wall up to 30cm thick, enclosing a woody, often tough interior. All species are wood-eaters, and some cause severe damage to timber in service, to living trees, and to synthetic materials. They constitute the most important economic group of termites in Australia but, as with
Heterotermes
, their taxonomy is poorly understood (Brown et al. in press).
C. acinaciformis
, which appears to include more than 1 species, occurs in all States, but is a mound-builder only in the northern and south-western portions of its range.
C. frenchi
, also a species complex, is restricted to eastern and southern Australia, and builds mounds only in the south.
C. michaelseni
in south-western Australia does not build mounds. Other species are less important economically.
C. lacteus
from south-eastern Australia and
C. brunneus
from W.A. are obligate mound-builders; the mounds of
C. brunneus
conserve water (Watson in Howes 1978).
The subfamily Prorhinotermitinae includes only the genus
Prorhinotermes
. The alates have heads nearly circular in plan; clypeus swollen, grooved medially; 2nd marginal tooth of left mandible much larger than 1st; and wings strongly reticulate. Soldiers have elongate, sabre-like mandibles and a small, distinct fontanelle, linked to the clypeus by a gutter, but lack a labral brush. The nymphal wing buds are fused in the midline, forming cowl-like structures.
P. inopinatus
, widespread in the south-west Pacific, occurs on Cape York Peninsula and in the N.T. (Gay and Barrett 1983).
The Rhinotermitinae are characterised by alates with heads circular in plan; clypeus well developed and inflated, with a distinct median groove from the fontanelle to the labrum; and wings with distinct reticulation. The soldiers have an elongate, medially grooved labrum, conspicuous fontanelle, and well-developed mandibles with large marginal teeth.
Schedorhinotermes
(6 spp.) is unusual in possessing two or three distinct types of soldiers, differing in size and in the shape of heads and mandibles (Miller 1987). Colonies are small to moderate in size, and are located in stumps, in and under logs, or in the soil. Frequently the attack on posts, logs, bark or dead branches is carried out under the protection of fragile, roof-like plastering, but
S. derosus
, a harvester, gathers grass in the open, 50cm or more from shelter (Watson 1969).
Parrhinotermes
is represented by a single species,
P. queenslandicus
, found only in moist decayed logs in rain forests in north Qld.
Description
Alates generally with ocelli (sometimes absent in
Heterotermes
). Fontanelle present, sometimes indistinct. Antennae 14-22-segmented. Left mandible with 1 apical and 3 marginal teeth; right mandible with a small subsidiary tooth at base of the 1st marginal. Pronotum more or less flattened. Tarsi 4-segmented. Scale of fore wing large; wings often reticulate. Cerci 2-segmented. Soldiers various, generally without eyes. Mandibles well-developed, with or without marginal teeth. Fontanelle present. Antennae 12-18-segmented. Pronotum flattened. Almost all species are wood-eaters and all are subterranean in habit, although some construct conspicuous mounds. Four of the 7 subfamilies occur in Australia.