''Hodotermes'' (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

ὁδός (hodós), travelling;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

'' termes'', woodworm) is a genus of African harvester termites in the

Hodotermitidae The harvester termites (from Greek ὁδός (hodós), travelling; Latin '' termes'', woodworm) are an ancient, Old World family of termites, the Hodotermitidae. They are distinguished by the serrated inner edge of their mandibles, and their func ...

. They range from Palaearctic North Africa, through the East African savannas to the karroid regions of southern Africa. As with harvester termites in general, they have serrated inner edges to their mandibles, and all castes have functional compound eyes. They forage for grass at night and during the day, and their pigmented workers are often observed outside the nest.

Nests

They nest by excavating in the soil, and the diffuse subterranean system of ''H. mossambicus'' may contain several spherical hives which may be 60 cm in diameter. They are interconnected by galleries and are located from near the surface to more than 6 m deep. Loose particles of excavated soil are brought to the surface and dumped at various points around the nest.

Diet

The diet of ''H. mossambicus'' consists primarily of ripe and/or frost- or drought-killed grass, though tree and shrub material is consumed to a lesser degree. In a stable isotope study of ''H. mossambicus'', the grass component was found to constitute upwards of 94% of their food intake. In this species, the sixth instar larvae digest and distribute food within the colony by means of stomodeal trophallaxis. The mutual feeding also reinforces the colony's integrity, as the feeders discriminate against individuals with unfamiliar intestinal microbiota.

Castes and activity patterns

The foraging worker caste of ''H. mossambicus'' consists of two types, named "small" and "large",Hegh, E. 1922. Les Termites. ''Imprimerie Industrielle et Financiere'', BruxellesWatson, J. A. L. 1973. The worker caste of the hodotermitid harvester termites. ''Insects Sociaux'' 20: 1-20 and the larger workers are characterized by very large flattened heads. Soldiers of the genus stay near the nest, and are not known to accompany workers on their expeditions. ''H. mossambicus'' is known to exhibit a seasonal cycle in its activities, which involves intensive diurnal winter surface foraging followed by a shift to sporadic nocturnal foraging at the beginning of the rainy season.Sands, W. A. 1965. Mound population movements and fluctuations in ''Trinervitermes ebenerianus'' Sjöst. (Isoptera, Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae). ''Insects Sociaux'' 12: 49-58Nel, J. J. C. 1968. Distribution of the foraging holes and soil temperatures of the harvester termite ''Hodotermes mossambicus'' (Hagen). ''S. Afr. J. Agric. Sci.'' 11: 173-182Coaton, W. G. H.; Sheasby, J. L. 1975. National survey of the Isoptera of Southern Africa. 10. The genus ''Hodotermes'' Hagen (Hodotermitidae). ''Cimbebasia'', Ser. A. Vol. 3: 105-138 With the advent of spring a shift from a diurnal to a nocturnal foraging pattern is evident.Coaton, W. G. H. 1958. The hodotermitid harvester termites of South Africa. ''Dept. Agri. Sci. Bull.'', S. Afr., Entomol. Ser. 375: 1-112

Breeding

Some three to five days after the first major rains,Nel, J. J. C.; Hewitt, P. H. 1978. Swarming in the harvester termite ''Hodotermes mossambicus'' (Hagen). J. Entom. Soc. South Afr. 41: 195-198 swarms of flying termites,

alate Alate (Latin ''ālātus'', from ''āla'' (“wing”)) is an adjective and noun used in entomology and botany to refer to something that has wings or winglike structures. In entomology In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form o ...

s (winged reproductives) emerge from their underground nests during summer evenings. When sufficiently distant from the parent nest, they land, shrug off their wings, and scout about for a mate. The pair then excavates a burrow to start a new colony. A week after swarming, the female lays her first eggs, which are tended by the couple, a task soon taken over by the maturing workers. After some four months, the nest is sufficiently developed to send foraging workers to the surface. For the next few years, most of the eggs develop into workers and a small number of

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

. When the nest is sufficiently large, winged reproductives again develop.

Predators

Harvester termites in general form the main component in the diet of the diurnal

bat-eared fox The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during th ...

in east and southern Africa. For this unusual diet, these foxes have 48 small teeth compared to the 42 teeth of all other dogs. They also have large ears to hear the insects in their underground chambers, before they are dug up. Though the

aardwolf The aardwolf (''Proteles cristata'') is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for " mane-jackal"), termite-eat ...

is a specialized predator of certain ''

Trinervitermes ''Trinervitermes'' is a termite genus belonging to family Termitidae. Members are native to the Old World. They inhabit grasslands and store grass in their nests or mounds, just below the ground surface. Their grass-collecting activities are main ...

'', they may assume a partially diurnal habit in winter to obtain harvester termites. The worker castes present the dominant, and seasonally the exclusive food item of some ''

Chondrodactylus ''Chondrodactylus'' is genus of geckos, lizards in the family Gekkonidae. The genus is commonly known as thick-toed geckos. Little is known of their biology. Species and subspecies The following species and subspecies are recognized as being va ...

'', ''

Pachydactylus ''Pachydactylus'' is a genus of insectivorous geckos, lizards in the family Gekkonidae. The genus is endemic to Africa, and member species are commonly known as thick-toed geckos. The genus also displays rich speciation, having 57 distinct spec ...

'' and ''

Ptenopus ''Ptenopus'' is a small genus of lizards, known commonly as barking geckos, in the family Gekkonidae. The genus is endemic to southern Africa. There are only three described species in this genus. Species and subspecies The following species a ...

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos a ...

species. ''Ptenopus'' females especially, seem to gorge on nocturnal foraging congregations in spring to supplement their vitellogenic requirements.

Economic impact

They can deplete grass in

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

s and contribute to soil erosion, but are less effective when grasslands are not overgrazed or disturbed. Over the long term, however, their decomposing and recycling of plant material contribute to soil fertility and the global cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and other elements.

References

External links

Wolf spider's termite hunt goes wrong
''Earth Touch'', 2011, YouTube {{Taxonbar, from=Q16575587 Termite genera Taxa named by Hermann August Hagen