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 numbat, also known as the noombat or walpurti, is an insectivorous marsupial. It is diurnal and its diet consists almost exclusively of termites.
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.
The Leptotyphlopidae are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies are recognized.
Mound-building termites are a group of termite species that live in mounds which are made of a combination of soil, termite saliva and dung. These termites live in Africa, Australia and South America. The mounds sometimes have a diameter of 30 metres (98 ft). Most of the mounds are in well-drained areas. Termite mounds usually outlive the colonies themselves. If the inner tunnels of the nest are exposed it is usually dead. Sometimes other colonies, of the same or different species, occupy a mound after the original builders' deaths.
Buxton's jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in the Negev desert and the northern coastal parts of the Sinai peninsula.
The Macrotermitinae, the fungus-growing termites, constitute a subfamily of the family Termitidae that is only found within the Old World tropics.
The tree kingfishers, also called wood kingfishers or Halcyoninae, are the most numerous of the three subfamilies of birds in the kingfisher family, with around 70 species divided into 12 genera, including several species of kookaburras. The subfamily appears to have arisen in Indochina and Maritime Southeast Asia and then spread to many areas around the world. Tree kingfishers are widespread through Asia and Australasia, but also appear in Africa and the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, using a range of habitats from tropical rainforest to open woodlands.
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 alates are glabrous and lack the microstructures like micrasters, microsetae or rods found in more modern Isoptera. In the driest and most arid locations in Africa it is generally replaced by Psammotermes.
Hypotermes makhamensis is a species of termite in the subfamily Macrotermitinae of the family Termitidae. It lives in dry evergreen forests in tropical south-eastern Asia and builds termite mounds in which it cultivates fungus for use as food.
Coptotermes frenchi, the Australian subterranean termite, is a species of termite in the family Rhinotermitidae. Termites are social insects and C. frenchi usually builds its communal nest in the root crown of a tree. From this, a network of galleries extends through the nearby soil, enabling the workers to forage in the surrounding area without emerging on the surface of the ground.
Coptotermes acinaciformis is a species of subterranean termite in the family Rhinotermitidae native to Australia. Termites are social insects and build a communal nest. In the case of C. acinaciformis, this is either in the root crown of a tree or underground. From this, a network of galleries extends through the nearby soil, enabling the workers to forage in the surrounding area without emerging on the surface of the ground. This termite can cause substantial damage to trees and the wooden parts of buildings.
Cryptotermes brevis is a species of termite in the family Kalotermitidae, commonly known as the West Indian drywood termite or the powderpost termite. It is able to live completely inside timber structures or articles made of wood such as furniture without any outside source of water. It is frequently introduced into new locations inadvertently, and causes damage to the structural timbers of buildings and to wooden objects such as furniture.
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.
Marginitermes hubbardi, commonly known as the light western drywood termite, is a species of termite in the family Kalotermitidae. It is found in Central America and desert regions of southwestern North America.
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.
Reticulitermes tibialis, the arid-land subterranean termite, is a species of termite in the family Rhinotermitidae. It is found in the United States, mostly in the western half, occurring in deserts, prairies and other dry locations.
Heterotermes aureus, commonly known as the desert subterranean termite, is a species of termite in the family Rhinotermitidae. It is native to the deserts of North America where the colony has an underground nest.
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.
