A rare jewel - Labidotermes celisi

[ItalianTermiteMan]

Greetings folks, today i want to share with you a pair of pics (some of the very few you'll ever find for this species) and two words about a true bijou of the termite world: Labidotermes celisi.

This central African species, sole member of the Labidotermes genus, is a very large and extremely rare soil feeding termite hailing from the Apicotermitinae subfamily. Its soldiers, which measure little less than inch, are equipped with peculiar and huge tusk-like mandibles and are especially impressive: i had the fortune of personally seeing a few alcohol-preserved specimens during my visit to Dr. Sobotnik's laboratory a pair of years ago and they are indeed amazing critters... i would truly love to see them alive, but that's a rather improbable wish as this genus has ever been recorded no more than 10 times! Sadly but not unexpectedly, very little is known about them.



Soldier of Labidotermes celisi... now that's a beast of a termite!



A better look at the soldier's mandible. These are not only interesting size-wise but also for their very peculiar shape.


All pics by Dr. Jan Sobotnik, shared with permission.

 

[viper69]

Massive!!

Huge heads and jaws

 

[Wolfram1]

that neck shield is also impressive

how do you refer to it in anatomical terms?

 

[ItalianTermiteMan]

that neck shield is also impressive

how do you refer to it in anatomical terms?

It's the soldier's pronotum.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Did he try to keep them alive? If so, with what success?

 

[ItalianTermiteMan]

Did he try to keep them alive? If so, with what success?

None ever tried to keep these (or related species); in any case these are soil-feeders, a type of termite alimentary regime whose members are exceedingly difficult to culture even for specialized labs.