Overview

In the Porotermitinae, the alates have 5-segmented cerci, and the soldiers have long, rounded to rectangular heads, with stout, toothed mandibles about one-third the length of the head. Porotermes adamsoni , the only representative of this subfamily, occurs in coastal and adjacent highland areas from south Qld to Tas. and S.A. It is found mainly in hardwood forests, where it forms moderately large colonies in both dead and living trees as well as in logs. Colonies in trees construct gallery systems, which may extend from the roots to the main branches, and frequently include a large central pipe which is packed with moist, clay-like, faecal material. There may possibly be connections between adjacent infestations via the soil. Porotermes is responsible for economic damage to commercial-timber trees (cf. Elliott and Bashford 1984), and also to poles and structural timber in moist situations in and near Melbourne, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney and, occasionally, in Canberra (Watson 1988).
In the Stolotermitinae, the alates have 4-segmented cerci, and the soldiers have markedly flattened bodies and heads, with strongly toothed mandibles that are at least half as long as the head. Stolotermes is represented by 4 species: 1 in Tas.; 1 in mountainous country from Vic. to southern Qld, and 2 on the Atherton Tableland and nearby montane areas in north Qld. All form small to moderate-sized colonies in rotten logs on the ground or in pockets of decay in living trees.

Description

Alates without ocelli or fontanelle. First marginal tooth of right mandible with a small subsidiary tooth on the distal edge. Pronotum flat and narrower than the head. Scales of fore wing larger than those of hind wing. Tarsi 4-segmented. S9 of males with styles. These are the true damp-wood termites; all species are found in wood, principally in fungus-affected wood in standing trees or fallen logs. They can also infest damp timber in service. The family is divided into 3 subfamilies, of which 2 occur in Australia, each being represented by a single relict genus.