Mastotermes Electromexicus

''Mastotermes electromexicus'' is an extinct species of termite in the family Mastotermitidae known from a group of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene fossils found in Mexico. ''M. electromexicus'' is the only species in the genus ''Mastotermes'' to have been described from fossils found in Mexican amber and was the first member of the genus described from the New World. The only living species of ''Mastotermes'' is '' Mastotermes darwiniensis'' which is found in tropical regions of Northern Australia.

History and classification

''Mastotermes electromexicus'' is known from a series of fourteen fossil insects which are inclusions in transparent chunks of Mexican amber. The amber specimens, a soldier, an imago and twelve nymphs are currently housed in the fossil collection of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California. The holotype fossil is composed of a partial soldier caste individual. Mexican amber is recovered from fossil bearing rocks in the Simojovel region of Chiapas, Mexico. The amber dates from between 22.5 million years old, for the youngest sediments of the Balumtun Sandstone, and 26 million years old La Quinta Formation. This age range straddles the boundary between the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene and is complicated by both formations being secondary deposits for the amber, the age range is only the youngest that it might be. The holotype was first studied by entomologists Kumar Krishna of the American Museum of Natural History and Alfred Emerson of the University of Chicago. Krishna and Emerson's 1983 type description of the species was published in the natural sciences journal '' American Museum Novitates''. The specific epithet ''electromexicus'' was coined from the Greek word "ēlektron" meaning ''amber'' combined with Mexico as a reference to the nature of the preservation and the country of the type locality.

Description

The ''Mastotermes electromexicus'' soldier is known from only a portion of the head and mandible. The head is estimated to have been wide with long hairs on each side of the head below the antennae. The mandibles are gently curved inwards, in contrast to those of ''M. darwiniensis'' which are a more curved and having a hooked appearance. The imago is known from a partial head, thorax, and hind wings. The wide head of the imago is wider than seen in ''M. darwiniensis'' with smaller eyes and ocelli which do not touch the compound eyes. The nymphs are known from a series of partial fossils in thirteen pieces of amber and representing several different instars. The heads vary between , showing a larger range of size then those of ''M. darwiniensis''. The antennae have approximately twenty four segments, flagellomeres, and the legs host a number of bristles and several short spines.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6785607

Termites
Eocene insects of North America
Oligocene insects
Paleogene insects of North America
Prehistoric insects of North America
Mexican amber
Fossil taxa described in 1983