''Coptotermes'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
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 Blatto ...
s in the family
Rhinotermitidae
Rhinotermitidae is a family of termites (Isoptera). They feed on wood and can cause extensive damage to buildings or other wooden structures. About 345 species are recognized, among these are severe pests such as ''Coptotermes formosanus'', ''Cop ...
. Many of the roughlty 71 species are economically destructive pests. The genus is thought to have originated in Southeast Asia. Worker termites from this genus forage underground and move about in roofed tunnels that they build along the surface.
In Australia, ''Coptotermes''
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'' ...
sometimes host a
parasitic
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
genus of termites, ''
Ahamitermes''. The
host and the parasite dwell in separate parts of the mound nest and are mutually antagonistic. The ''Ahamitermes'' species live in the innermost parts of the nest and feed on the "carton" material with which the galleries are lined, which consists of soil particles, chewed wood, and cellulose, bound together with saliva and faeces. They are thus dependent on their hosts for both their food and their home and are not found in any other situations.
Species
This is an incomplete list of species:
*''
Coptotermes acinaciformis''
*''
Coptotermes brunneus''
*''
Coptotermes ceylonicus''
*''
Coptotermes curvignathus'' Holmgren
*''
Coptotermes elisae''
*''
Coptotermes emersoni''
*''
Coptotermes formosanus'' - Formosan subterranean termite
*''
Coptotermes frenchi''
*''
Coptotermes gaurii''
*''
Coptotermes gestroi'' - Asian subterranean termite
*''
Coptotermes havilandi''
*''
Coptotermes heimi ''
*''
Coptotermes kalshoveni''
*''
Coptotermes lacteus''
*''
Coptotermes parvulus'' Holmgren
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q11842491
Termite genera
