# Microhodotermes

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Microhodotermes
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Microhodotermes.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microhodotermes
> Source revision: 1355351543
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Genus of termites}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Microhodotermes viator.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Microhodotermes viator](/source/Microhodotermes_viator)''
| taxon = Microhodotermes
| authority = Sjöstedt, 1926
}}

'''''Microhodotermes''''' is a genus of southern African '''harvester termites''' in the [Hodotermitidae](/source/Hodotermitidae). As with harvester termites in general, they have serrated inner edges to their mandibles, and all castes have functional compound eyes.<ref name=isa>{{cite book|last=Scholtz |first=Clarke H.|title=Insects of Southern Africa |year=1985 |publisher=Butterworths |location=Durban |isbn=0409-10487-6 |page=57|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Species of this genus are desert specialists of the [Namib](/source/Namib_Desert), [Kalahari](/source/Kalahari_Desert) and [Karoo](/source/Karoo), where their ranges overlap with ''Hodotermes''.<ref name=evol>{{cite book|last=Abe |first=Takuya|title=Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology |year=2000–2002 |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |location=Dordrecht, The Netherlands |isbn=0-7923-6361-2 |pages=35–36|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name=fg/>

They forage at night and during daylight hours, and their pigmented workers<ref name=fg>{{cite book|last=Picker |first=Mike|title=Field Guide to Insects of South Africa |year=2004 |publisher=Struik Publishers |location=Cape Town |isbn=978-1-77007-061-5 |page=176|display-authors=etal}}</ref> are often observed outside the nest.<ref name=isa/> The workers of ''[M. viator](/source/Microhodotermes_viator)'' collect mostly woody material, with ''[Pteronia](/source/Pteronia)'' and [vygie](/source/Mesembryanthemum) species being favoured.<ref name=fg/>

Colonies of ''M. viator'' produce initially small,<ref name=oec>{{cite journal |last=Moore |first=J. M. |author2=Picker, M. D. |title=Heuweltjies (earth mounds) in the Clanwilliam district, Cape Province, South Africa: 4000-year-old termite nests |journal=Oecologia |year=1991 |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=424–432 |doi=10.1007/bf00317612 |pmid=28312932|bibcode=1991Oecol..86..424M }}</ref> conical mounds on soil with sufficient clay content.<ref name = fg/>  These are speculated to cause the formation of increasingly large [heuweltjie](/source/heuweltjie)s.<ref name=oec/> Widespread foraging and burrowing activity of [aardvark](/source/aardvark)s are associated with heuweltjies inhabited by ''M. viator''.<ref name=oec/>

==Species==
The genus contains three species:<ref name=biolib>{{cite web|title= ''Microhodotermes'' Sjöstedt, 1926 |url=https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id128556/ |work=Isoptera |publisher=biolib.cz |accessdate=5 February 2013}}</ref> 
* ''[Microhodotermes maroccanus](/source/Microhodotermes_maroccanus)'' <small>(Sjöstedt, 1926)</small>
* ''[Microhodotermes viator](/source/Microhodotermes_viator)'' <small>(Latreille, 1804)</small>
* ''[Microhodotermes wasmanni](/source/Microhodotermes_wasmanni)'' <small>(Sjöstedt, 1900)</small>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q6839585}}

Category:Termite genera
Category:Blattodea of Africa

{{termite-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Microhodotermes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microhodotermes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microhodotermes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.