Microhodotermes viator

Microhodotermes viator
Soldier and winged reproductive castes of Microhodotermes viator
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Infraorder: Isoptera
Family: Hodotermitidae
Genus: Microhodotermes
Species:
M. viator
Binomial name
Microhodotermes viator
(Latreille, 1804)
Synonyms
  • Termes viator (Latreille, 1804)
  • Hodotermes (Hodotermes) faurei (Fuller, 1921)
  • Hodotermes (Hodotermes) peringueyi (Fuller, 1921)
  • Hodotermes (Hodotermes) silvestrii (Fuller, 1921)
  • Hodotermes (Hodotermes) thomseni (Fuller, 1921)
  • Hodotermes viator hageni (Fuller, 1921)
  • Hodotermes aurivillii (Sjöstedt, 1900)

Microhodotermes viator, commonly called the southern harvester termite, the Karoo harvesting termite, the wood-eating harvester termite, houtkapper (lit.'wood cutter'), and stokkiesdraer (lit.'stick carrier'), is a species of harvester termite native to the desert shrubland of Namibia and South Africa. The eusocial insects inhabit soil mounds called heuweltjies. In 2024, researchers found inhabited Microhodotermes viator mounds up to 34,000 years old—by far the oldest active termite structures ever dated.