Microhodotermes Explained

Microhodotermes is a genus of southern African harvester termites in the Hodotermitidae. As with harvester termites in general, they have serrated inner edges to their mandibles, and all castes have functional compound eyes.[1] Species of this genus are desert specialists of the Namib, Kalahari and Karoo, where their ranges overlap with Hodotermes.[2]

They forage at night and during daylight hours, and their pigmented workers[3] are often observed outside the nest.[1] The workers of M. viator collect mostly woody material, with Pteronia and vygie species being favoured.[3]

Colonies of M. viator produce initially small,[4] conical mounds on soil with sufficient clay content.[3] These are speculated to cause the formation of increasingly large heuweltjies.[4] Widespread foraging and burrowing activity of aardvarks are associated with heuweltjies inhabited by M. viator.[4]

Species

The genus contains three species:[5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Scholtz, Clarke H.. Insects of Southern Africa . 1985 . Butterworths . Durban . 0409-10487-6 . 57. etal.
  2. Book: Abe, Takuya. Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology . 2000–2002 . Kluwer Academic Publishers . Dordrecht, The Netherlands . 0-7923-6361-2 . 35–36. etal.
  3. Book: Picker, Mike. Field Guide to Insects of South Africa . 2004 . Struik Publishers . Cape Town . 978-1-77007-061-5 . 176. etal.
  4. Moore . J. M. . Picker, M. D. . Heuweltjies (earth mounds) in the Clanwilliam district, Cape Province, South Africa: 4000-year-old termite nests . Oecologia . 1991 . 86 . 3 . 424–432 . 10.1007/bf00317612 . 28312932. 1991Oecol..86..424M .
  5. Web site: Microhodotermes Sjöstedt, 1926 . Isoptera . biolib.cz . 5 February 2013.