Abstract: [Objective] To analyze the phylotypes of symbiotic archaea in the gut of Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder using non-cultivating method. [Methods] We amplified 16S rRNA genes of the symbiotic archaea from the DNA extract of the whole gut with the universal archaeal 16S rDNA primer. A clone library of archaeal 16S rDNA was established and selected clones were sequenced and phylogeneticly analyzed. [Results] Five 16S rDNA sequences with the similarity of 93.2%～99.2% to each other were obtained from Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the five clones were clustered with Methanobrevibacter clones or isolates obtained from Reticulitermes speratus and Reticulitermes flavipes. [Conclusion] The results showed that symbiotic archaea in the gut of Reticulitermes chinensis were affiliated with Methanobrevibacter.