Species Heterotermes platycephalus Froggatt, 1897

Museums

Regional Maps

• Heterotermes platycephalus Froggatt, W.W. 1897. Australian Termitidae. Part II. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 21: 510-552 pls xxxv-xxxvi [date on journal 1896, actual date of publication 31 May, 1897 Musgrave, A. 1932. Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775–1930 with Biographical Notes on Authors and Collectors. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales viii 380 pp. [103]] [551].

  Type data:

   Neotype ANIC No. 9048 ♀ alate, Kangaroo Is., SA.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Hill, G.F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region. Melbourne : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 479 pp. 24 pls. [134].
• Leucotermes clarki Hill, G.F. 1922. On some Australian termites of the genera Drepanotermes, Hamitermes and Leucotermes. Bulletin of Entomological Research 12: 363-399 pls ix-xii [395] [the original type series was mixed, the alates and workers being Amitermes obeuntis (Silvestri, 1909); the \ma alate and worker now with the lectotype soldier are Heterotermes and, therefore, are not paralectotypes].

  Type data:

   Lectotype NMV No. T-10847 soldier, Swan River, WA.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Hill, G.F. 1927. Termites from the Australian region. Part I. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne 7: 5-120 pls i-ix [46].

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Hill, G.F. 1932. Australian termites (Isoptera). Biological notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria ns 44: 134-154 [143]

 

Distribution

States

South Australia, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

North to c. 26ºN, Kangaroo Is.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

SA, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Ranges (CR), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Mallee (MAL), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • South Australia: S Gulfs, W plateau
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Soil dweller, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

Social, nests in mounds of other termites, stumps, and subterranean, diet primarily weathered wood.

 

General References

Hill, G.F. 1942. Termites (Isoptera) from the Australian Region. Melbourne : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 479 pp. 24 pls. [134] (biology)

Perry, D.H., Watson, J.A.L., Bunn, S.E. & Black, R. 1985. Guide to the termites (Isoptera) from the extreme south-west of Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 67: 66-78 [72, 74] (biology, distribution)

Watson, J.A.L. & Abbey, H.M. 1993. Atlas of Australian Termites. Melbourne & Canberra : Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 158 pp. [39] (distribution)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		12-Feb-2010	(import)