''Psammotermes'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
s in the family
Rhinotermitidae. It is found living in subterranean nests in arid parts of Africa.
Distribution and habitat
''Psammotermes'' is found in deserts and arid regions of Africa, in sand or eroded areas, but not heavy clay or alluvial soils. It is the termite genus best adapted for desert life and replaces ''
Anacanthotermes
''Anacanthotermes'' is an Old World genus of termites in the Hodotermitidae. They are found in deserts and semideserts of North Africa, the Middle East and Southwest Asia, including Baluchistan and southern India. Wings of the alate
Alate (Latin ...
'' in the driest areas. In is to be found in places with some vegetation or even where there is none, where it is believed to subsist on wind blown accumulations of organic detritus. It can live on buried timber, perhaps relics of a previous era when the climate was wetter.
Behaviour
''Psammotermes''
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
are underground nests consisting of chambers and narrow galleries that they excavate themselves, although they have been known to inhabit the disused nests of ''
Amitermes
''Amitermes'' is a genus of termites in the family Termitidae. It is the second largest genus after '' Microcerotermes'' in the subfamily Amitermitinae with around one hundred species. Species are found in a range of habitats including deserts a ...
'', ''
Baucaliotermes'' and ''
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 are generalist feeders and consume anything including animal dung, roadside litter (cartons, boxes etc.), dead grass, leaf litter, discarded material in the waste dumps of the harvester termites ''
Hodotermes mossambicus
''Hodotermes'' (from Greek ὁδός (hodós), travelling; Latin '' termes'', woodworm) is a genus of African harvester termites in the Hodotermitidae. They range from Palaearctic North Africa, through the East African savannas to the karroid ...
'' and ''
Microhodotermes viator
''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. Species of this g ...
'', dead bushes, branches and logs lying on the surface, fence posts and the structural timbers of buildings. Most of these food sources are approached from underground, but sheeting may cover large items and sheeted runways are sometimes constructed leading to exposed items. The nest is usually built in buried timber but in some nests, this does not seem to be the case.s
[
]
Species
The Encyclopedia of Life and ''Termite Catalogue
Termite Catalogue (retrieved 13 July 2019)
'
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16860190
Termite genera