Ophiotermes mirandus 惊奇蛇白蚁
- Type locality
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mukimbungu
- Distribution
- Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea
List： English (genus page) · 中文 · Español
Summary
Ophiotermes mirandus is a species of the genus Ophiotermes, in the family TERMITIDAE (subfamily Cubitermitinae). The species was described by Sjöstedt in 1905; the type locality is Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mukimbungu. Distribution: Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea.
Etymology
Genus name Ophiotermes: From Greek ophis (snake) + Latin termes.
Specific epithet mirandus: Latin mirandus (wonderful)
Taxonomic position
- Family: TERMITIDAE — 280 genera, 2144 species
- Subfamily: Cubitermitinae — 28 genera, 149 species
- Genus: Ophiotermes — 7 species
- Type species of the genus: Ophiotermes mandibularis
Distribution
- Distribution records: Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea
The record above follows the wording of the original data; no geocoding or standardized place names have been applied.
Morphology
A species-level description from the original literature has not yet been compiled for this page. Original description: Sjöstedt, 1905. See the genus page for the genus-level description; this page will be updated after the original text is checked.
Distribution map
No GBIF record with coordinates was found for this species.
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.
- Nitrate reduction, nitrous oxide formation, and anaerobic ammonia oxidation to nitrite in the gut of soil‐feeding termites ( Cubitermes and Ophiotermes spp.)
Abstract
Soil-feeding termites play important roles in the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in tropical soils. Through the mineralization of nitrogenous humus components, their intestinal tracts accumulate enormous amounts of ammonia, and nitrate and nitrite concentrations are several orders of magnitude above those in the ingested soil. Here, we studied the metabolism of nitrate in the different gut compartments of two Cubitermes and one Ophiotermes species using (15)N isotope tracer analysis. Living termites emitted N(2) at rates ranging from 3.8 to 6.8 nmol h(-1) (g fresh wt.)(-1). However, in homogenates of individual gut sections, denitrification was restricted to the posterior hindgut, whereas nitrate ammonification occurred in all gut compartments and was the prevailing process in the anterior gut. Potential rates of nitrate ammonification for the entire intestinal tract were tenfold higher than those of denitrification, implying that ammonification is the major sink for ingested nitrate in the intestinal tract of soil-feeding termites. Because nitrate is efficiently reduced already in the anterior gut, reductive processes in the posterior gut compartments must be fuelled by an endogenous source of oxidized nitrogen species. Quite unexpectedly, we observed an anaerobic oxidation of (15)N-labelled ammonia to nitrite, especially in the P4 section, which is presumably driven by ferric iron; nitrification and anammox activities were not detected. Two of the termite species also emitted substantial amounts of N(2) O, ranging from 0.4 to 3.9 nmol h(-1) (g fresh wt.)(-1), providing direct evidence that soil-feeding termites are a hitherto unrecognized source of this greenhouse gas in tropical soils.
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 Ophiotermes (6 species)
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: Ophiotermes mirandus 惊奇蛇白蚁[EB/OL]. Version 2026.10.30. https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ophiotermes-mirandus/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836.
BibTeX
@misc{isoptera_ophiotermes_mirandus_2026,
author = {班奈特格林},
title = {Ophiotermes mirandus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites)},
year = {2026},
version = {2026.10.30},
howpublished = {https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ophiotermes-mirandus/},
note = {TERMITIDAE; version 2026.10.30; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23646836},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23646836}
}
RIS
TY - ELEC TI - Ophiotermes mirandus: a checklist of extant Isoptera (termites) AU - 班奈特格林 PY - 2026 UR - https://termite-extant-isoptera.org/en/species/ophiotermes-mirandus/ DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23646836 ER -