''Amitermes meridionalis'', commonly known as the magnetic termite or compass termite, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
eusocial
Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations wit ...
insect in the family
Termitidae
Termitidae is the largest family of termites consisting of 2,125 described species of which are commonly known as the higher termites. They are evolutionarily the most specialised termite group, with their highly compartmentalized hindgut lackin ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to northern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and the common names derive from the fact that the wedge-shaped mound is aligned with its main axis running north and south.
[
]
Description
A large mound may house up to a million individual termites. Each is the nest of a colony
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...
of ''Amitermes meridionalis'' and houses the queen, king, reproductives, soldiers and workers. The outer surface of the mound is hard and durable whereas the material separating the chambers and galleries inside is more papery.[ The soldiers are long and their curved ]mandible
In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla).
The jawbone i ...
s bear a single in-turned tooth.[ Many termites never leave the mound and as a result of this protected environment they have thin cuticles, colourless bodies, little sight and little ability to protect themselves.][
]
Distribution and habitat
''Amitermes meridionalis'' is native to the northern part of Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
of Australia, around Darwin. The slab-like mounds are found in low-lying grassland areas that flood during the rainy season. The mounds are often widely scattered,
Behaviour
The mounds built by this termite can be up to tall, wide and deep.[ The nests are laterally flattened and are oriented so that they receive the warmth of the sun on their eastern and western sides in the morning and evening while exposing less surface to the sun at midday when the nest might overheat. The interior of the mound is kept at a relatively stable temperature and a high humidity. In the summer, when the land floods, the termites remain safely inside feeding on their stored food supplies. In the dry season, when the water drains away, the surrounding grass senesces and the termites gather the drying grass and other plant material to store as hay in chambers in the mound.]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15709388
Insects of Australia
Termites