''Anacanthotermes'' is an
Old World
The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
genus of termites in the
Hodotermitidae
The Hodotermitidae (from Greek ὁδός (hodós), travelling; Latin '' termes'', woodworm) 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 th ...
. They are found in deserts and semideserts of North Africa, the Middle East and Southwest Asia, including
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...
and southern India.
Wings of the
alate
Alate (Latin ''ālātus'', from ''āla'' (“wing”)) is an adjective and noun used in entomology and botany to refer to something that has wings or winglike structures.
In entomology
In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form of ...
s 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
''Psammotermes'' is a genus of termites in the subfamily Psammotermitinae, nested within the family Psammotermitidae. It is found living in subterranean nests in arid parts of Africa.
Distribution and habitat
''Psammotermes'' is found in deserts ...
''.
Species
The genus contains some 13 species:
* ''
A. ahngerianus''
(Jacobson)
* ''
A. baeckmannianus''
(Vasiljev)
* ''
A. baluchistanicus''
Akhtar, 1974
* ''
A. iranicus''
Ravan et al., 1994
* ''
A. macrocephalus''
(Desneux, 1906)
* ''
A. murgabicus''
(Vasiljev)
* ''
A. ochraceus''
(Burmeister)
* ''
A. saudiensis''
Chhotani, et al., 1982
* ''
A. septentrionalis''
(Jacobson)
* ''
A. turkestanicus''
(Jacobson)
* ''
A. ubachi''
(Navas)
* ''
A. vagans''
(Hagen, 1858)
* ''
A. viarum''
(König, 1779)
References
Termite genera
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