Ancistrotermes cavithorax 凹胸钩白蚁
- Type locality
- Cameroon: Victoria
- Distribution
- West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Gambia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Ancistrotermes cavithorax is a species of the genus Ancistrotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Macrotermitinae). The species was described by Sjöstedt in 1899; the type locality is Cameroon: Victoria. Distribution: West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Gambia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda. This site records 1 junior synonym for the species.
Etymology
Genus name Ancistrotermes: From Greek ankistron (hook) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet cavithorax: Latin cavus (hollow) + thorax (thorax), hollow-thoraxed
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Macrotermitinae — 12 genera, 373 species
- Genus: Ancistrotermes — 16 species
- Type species of the genus: Ancistrotermes crucifer
Distribution
- Distribution records: West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Gambia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Junior synonyms
This site records 1 junior synonym for the species, listed by its original literature source:
- Ancistrotermes amphidon Sjöstedt, 1926: 240-241 — type locality: Ghana: Accra
In older literature, regional checklists and database searches, this species may appear under the synonym Ancistrotermes amphidon; this site treats it under Ancistrotermes cavithorax.
Morphology
A species-level description from the original literature has not yet been compiled for this page. Original description: Sjöstedt, 1899. See the genus page for the genus-level description; this page will be updated after the original text is checked.
Distribution map
Aggregated from GBIF occurrence records on a 1° grid; only extant taxa of this checklist are used, so fossil records are excluded. Dot size and shade show the number of records inside a cell.
Related papers
Cached papers for this genus (matched automatically, for reference); to search this species with its junior synonyms merged in, use the literature search.
- Chemical Defence in the Termite Ancistrotermes cavithorax
Abstract
- A Termitomyces on the fungus stones of an African Ancistrotermes.
Abstract
- Chemical defence in the termite Ancistrotermes cavithorax: ancistrodial and ancistrofuran
Abstract
Soldiers of the termite Ancistrotermes cavithorax produce terpenoid defence secretions, but whereas the minor soldiers produce ancistrodial (1) exclusively, the major soldiers secrete ancistrofuran (6), together with (4) and (5).
Papers on this species, synonyms included → OpenAlex Google Scholar CNKI
Abstracts come from open metadata; copyright remains with the original authors/publishers. For reference only — please check the original.
Literature notes
Edited notes based on the original literature, not transcriptions. The source markers in each paragraph point to archived records in .sources; full citations are listed below.
Terpenoid defensive secretions of soldiers
According to the abstract of Baker et al. (1978), the defensive secretion of Ancistrotermes cavithorax soldiers consists of diterpenes: minor soldiers produce only ancistrodial (compound 1), whereas major soldiers produce ancistrofuran (compound 6) together with compounds 4 and 5; the chemical difference between the two soldier castes suggests a division of defensive function.
References
Other species in Ancistrotermes (15 species)
- Ancistrotermes crassiceps
- Ancistrotermes crucifer
- Ancistrotermes dimorphus
- Ancistrotermes dubius
- Ancistrotermes equatorius
- Ancistrotermes ganlanbaensis
- Ancistrotermes guineensis
- Ancistrotermes hekouensis
- Ancistrotermes latinotus
- Ancistrotermes menglianensis
- Ancistrotermes microdens
- Ancistrotermes pakistanicus
- Ancistrotermes periphrasis
- Ancistrotermes wasmanni
- Ancistrotermes xiai
Cite this species
Citation strings are generated from the fields of this page; please keep the DOI and the version number when citing.
GB/T 7714
班奈特格林. Extant Isoptera (termites): a checklist of Latin and Chinese names: Ancistrotermes cavithorax 凹胸钩白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ancistrotermes-cavithorax/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_ancistrotermes_cavithorax_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Ancistrotermes cavithorax: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ancistrotermes-cavithorax/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Ancistrotermes cavithorax: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ancistrotermes-cavithorax/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -