Hospitalitermes

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Hospitalitermes
Hospitalitermes sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Infraorder: Isoptera
Nanorder: Geoisoptera
Family: Termitidae
Subfamily: Nasutitermitinae
Genus: Hospitalitermes
Holmgren, 1912

Hospitalitermes[1] is an Asian–Papuan genus of lichen-eating termite in the subfamily Nasutitermitinae.[2] There are 37 species currently listed, of which most are recognized for their extensive surface foraging columns. Due to their conspicuous foraging activities, they are commonly known as processionary or marching termites. They often inhabit cavities inside of living trees excavated by other species of termite.[3]

Description

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The length of the workers and soldiers is about 5 mm. As with other genera in the subfamily, soldiers have a nasal tube from which, in case of danger, they shoot terpene-based repellents. They are one of the few species and genera of termites (Hospitalitermes, along with Lacessititermes and Longipeditermes) that forage in large columns in the open air. In the species Hospitalitermes hospitalis, the width of the columns is 20–30 mm (up to 8 termites in a row), they move away from the nest by an average of 29 m (up to 65 m), visiting neighboring trees and collecting lichens, mosses, fungi and other microepiphytes. One foraging expedition can involve up to 0.5 million individuals of one termite mound. It is also one of the few termites (together with Grallatotermes and Constrictotermes) that use living vascular plants (most termites feed on dead plants).[4][5]

Species

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The Termite Catalogue[6] lists the following:

References

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  1. ^ Holmgren (1912) K. svenska VetenskAkad. Handl., 48, no. 4, 62.
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  4. ^ Syaukani, Tompson GJ, Yamane S (2011) Hospitalitermes krishnai, a new nasute termite (Nasutitermitinae, Termitidae, Isoptera), from southern Sumatra, Indonesia. In: Engel MS (Ed) Contributions Celebrating Kumar Krishna. — ZooKeys 148: 161—169. [10.3897/zookeys.148.1768 DOI]
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Termite Catalogue (7 July 2019)
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  • File:Wikispecies-logo.svg Data related to Hospitalitermes at Wikispecies

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