Macrotermes bellicosus 勇猛大白蚁
- Type locality
- Sierra Leone: Njala
- Distribution
- Old World tropics, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Macrotermes bellicosus is a species of the genus Macrotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Macrotermitinae). The species was described by Smeathman in 1781; the type locality is Sierra Leone: Njala. Distribution: Old World tropics, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen. This site records 3 junior synonyms for the species.
Etymology
Genus name Macrotermes: From Greek makros (large) + Latin termes, ‘large termite’.
Specific epithet bellicosus: Latin bellicosus (warlike)
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Macrotermitinae — 12 genera, 373 species
- Genus: Macrotermes — 57 species
- Type species of the genus: Macrotermes lilljeborgi
Distribution
- Distribution records: Old World tropics, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Junior synonyms
This site records 3 junior synonyms for the species, listed by their original literature source:
- Termes nigeriensis Sjöstedt, 1911: 183-184 — type locality: Nigeria: Yaba
- Termes carboniceps Sjöstedt, 1924: 39-40 — type locality: Democratic Republic of the Congo: Yambata
- Bellicositermes convexus Grassé, 1937: 35-37 — type locality: Ivory Coast: 50 km of Touba on road to Man
In older literature, regional checklists and database searches, this species may appear under the synonyms above (Termes nigeriensis, Termes carboniceps, Bellicositermes convexus); this site treats them all under Macrotermes bellicosus.
Morphology
A species-level description from the original literature has not yet been compiled for this page. Original description: Smeathman, 1781. See the genus page for the genus-level description; this page will be updated after the original text is checked.
Photos 5 photos
Freely licensed photos, click to enlarge. Hotlinked from iNaturalist / Wikimedia Commons; the rights stay with the photographers — author, licence and source page are shown under each photo.
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.
- Intraspecific colony recognition in the termites Macrotermes subhyalinus and Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Termitidae)
Abstract
- Ecdysone and ecdysterone in physogastric termite queens and eggs of Macrotermes bellicosus and Macrotermes subhyalinus
Abstract
- The mound-building termite Macrotermes michaelseni as an ecosystem engineer
Abstract
Many organisms create or alter resource flows that affect the composition and spatial arrangement of current and future organismal diversity. The phenomenon called ecosystem engineering is considered with a case study of the mound building termite Macrotermes michaelseni. It is argued that this species acts as an ecosystem engineer across a range of spatial scales, from alteration of local infiltration rates to the creation of landscape mosaics, and that its impacts accrue because of the initiation of biophysical processes that often include feedback mechanisms. These changes to resource flows are likely to persist for long periods and constrain the biological structure of the habitat. The value of ecosystem engineering is discussed as a holistic way of understanding the complexity of tropical ecology.
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.
Other species in Macrotermes (56 species)
- Macrotermes acrocephalus
- Macrotermes ahmadi
- Macrotermes aleemi
- Macrotermes amplus
- Macrotermes annandalei
- Macrotermes barneyi
- Macrotermes beaufortensis
- Macrotermes carbonarius
- Macrotermes chaiglomi
- Macrotermes chebalingensis
- Macrotermes choui
- Macrotermes constrictus
- Macrotermes convulsionarius
- Macrotermes declivatus
- Macrotermes denticulatus
- Macrotermes falciger
- Macrotermes gilvus
- Macrotermes gratus
- Macrotermes guangxiensis
- Macrotermes hainanensis
- Macrotermes herus
- Macrotermes hopini
- Macrotermes incisus
- Macrotermes ituriensis
- Macrotermes ivorensis
- Macrotermes jinghongensis
- Macrotermes khajuriai
- Macrotermes latignathus
- Macrotermes lilljeborgi
- Macrotermes longiceps
- Macrotermes longimentis
- Macrotermes luokengensis
- Macrotermes maesodensis
- Macrotermes malaccensis
- Macrotermes meidoensis
- Macrotermes menglongensis
- Macrotermes michaelseni
- Macrotermes natalensis
- Macrotermes niger
- Macrotermes nobilis
56 species in this genus. See all species on the genus page →
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: Macrotermes bellicosus 勇猛大白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-bellicosus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_macrotermes_bellicosus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Macrotermes bellicosus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-bellicosus/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Macrotermes bellicosus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/macrotermes-bellicosus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -