The aardwolf is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called the maanhaar-jackal, termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.
Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial insects which consume a wide variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied and often unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants, to which they are only distantly related. About 2,972 extant species are currently described, 2,105 of which are members of the family Termitidae.
The bat-eared fox 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 the middle Pleistocene.
Pogonomyrmex barbatus is a species of harvester ant from the genus Pogonomyrmex. Its common names include red ant and red harvester ant. These large ants prefer arid chaparral habitats and are native to the Southwestern United States. Nests are made underground in exposed areas. Their diets consist primarily of seeds, and they consequently participate in myrmecochory, an ant-plant interaction through which the ants gain nutrients and the plants benefit through seed dispersal. Red harvester ants are often mistaken for fire ants, but are not closely related to any fire ant species, native or introduced.
Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach lineage, cladistically making them cockroaches as well. The Blattodea and the mantis are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. Blattodea includes approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera.
The short-winged cisticola, also known as the siffling cisticola, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Heuweltjies are large mounds above or near the surface of the landscape, a type of soil surface feature that occurs widely in the south-western Cape of South Africa. Their formation has been the subject of a wide range of speculation and of debate.
The Macrotermitinae, the fungus-growing termites, constitute a subfamily of the family Termitidae that is only found within the Old World tropics.
Trinervitermes trinervoides is a species of termite belonging to family Termitidae. It is native to and widespread in southern Africa where it inhabits mesic to semi-arid grasslands. Due to the snout on the head of soldiers, and their grass collecting habits, they are known as snouted harvester termites.
Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, or the western harvester ant, is a species of ant that inhabits the deserts and arid grasslands of the American West at or below 6,300 feet (1,900 m). Like other harvester ants in the genus Pogonomyrmex, it is so called because of its habit of collecting edible seeds and other food items. The specific epithet "occidentalis", meaning "of the west", refers to the fact that it is characteristic of the interior of the Western United States; its mounds of gravel, surrounded by areas denuded of plant life, are a conspicuous feature of rangeland. When numerous, they may cause such loss of grazing plants and seeds, as to constitute both a severe ecological and economic burden. They have a painful and venomous sting.
The Hodotermitidae are a basal Old World family of termites known as the harvester termites. They are distinguished by the serrated inner edge of their mandibles, and their functional compound eyes which are present in all castes. They forage for grass at night and during daylight hours, and the pigmented workers are often observed outside the nest. Their range includes the deserts and savannas of Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. Their English name refers to their habit of collecting grass, which is not unique to the family however.
Macrotermes bellicosus is a species of Macrotermes. The queens are the largest amongst known termites, measuring about 4.2 inches (110 mm) long when physogastric. The workers average 0.14 in (3.6 mm) in length and soldiers are slightly larger. Bellicosus means "combative" in Latin. The species is a member of a genus indigenous to Africa and South-East Asia.
Hodotermes is a genus of African harvester termites in the Hodotermitidae. 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.
Psammotermes is a genus of termites in the family Rhinotermitidae. It is found living in subterranean nests in arid parts of Africa.
Macrotermes michaelseni is a species of termite in the family Termitidae, found in sub-Saharan Africa. It is associated with the fungus Termitomyces schimperi.
Macrotermes is a genus of termites belonging to the subfamily Macrotermitinae and widely distributed throughout Africa and South-East Asia. Well-studied species include Macrotermes natalensis and M. bellicosus.
Amitermes hastatus, commonly known as the black mound termite, is a species of termite found in the Western Cape region of South Africa. It is endemic to the region's fynbos ecosystem. They build distinctive black termite mounds that range in height from a few centimeters to 50 centimeters. The species is commonly found on sandy soil eroded from white Table Mountain sandstone at altitudes from just under 100 meters up to 900 meters above sea level.
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 mainly nocturnal. The soldier caste has atrophied mandibles and a fontanelle squirt gun on the frons. Diterpenes and monoterpenes are released to deter ants and smaller predators, but these are not effective against larger mammalian predators. Due to the snout on the head of soldiers and their grass-collecting habits, they are known as snouted harvester termites.
Odontotermes is a termite genus belonging to subfamily Macrotermitinae, which is native to the Old World. They are most destructive in wooden homes, and are agricultural pests in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia. It is the most diverse termite genus in Africa, with 78 species recorded.
Microhodotermes viator, commonly called the southern harvester termite, the Karoo harvesting termite, the wood-eating harvester termite, houtkapper, and stokkiesdraer, is a species of harvester termite native to the desert shrubland of Namibia and South Africa. The eusocial insects inhabit soil mounds called heuweltjies. In 2024, researchers found inhabited heuweltjies up to 34,000 years old, by far the oldest active termite structures ever dated.
