Trinervitermes

Snouted harvester termites
	Soldiers defending mound builders, and the domed mound of T. trinervoides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Isoptera
Family:	Termitidae
Genus:	Trinervitermes; Holmgren, 1912

Trinervitermes is a termite genus belonging to family Termitidae, which is native to the Old World. They inhabit grasslands and store grass in their nests or mounds, just below the ground surface. Their grass collecting activities are mainly nocturnal. The soldier caste has atrophied mandibles and a fontanelle squirt gun on the frons. Diterpenes and monoterpenes are released to deter ants and smaller predators, but these are not effective against larger mammalian predators. Due to the snout on the head of soldiers, and their grass collecting habits, they are known as snouted harvester termites.

Species

Species include:[1]

Trinervitermes biformis (Wasmann, 1902) – India and Sri Lanka
Trinervitermes dispar (Sjöstedt) – East Africa to South Africa
Trinervitermes rapulum (Sjöstedt) – East Africa to southern Africa
Trinervitermes rhodesiensis (Sjöstedt) – East Africa to southern Africa
Trinervitermes trinervoides (Sjöstedt, 1911) – South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
Trinervitermes rubidus (Hagen, 1859) – Sri Lanka

References

Villet, Martin; Robertson, Hamish (2000). "28. Genus: TRINERVITERMES Holmgren 1912". A Catalogue of South African Insects (revised). Rhodes University. Retrieved 25 June 2018.

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[villet-1] Villet, Martin; Robertson, Hamish (2000). "28. Genus: TRINERVITERMES Holmgren 1912". A Catalogue of South African Insects (revised). Rhodes University. Retrieved 25 June 2018.