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Ammoxenus coccineus
Ammoxenus coccineus is a species of spider in the family Gnaphosidae and the type species of the genus Ammoxenus. It is found in southern Africa and is commonly known as the desert termite feeding spider.
From the article Ammoxenus coccineus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
A. coccineus has the widest distribution of any Ammoxenus species, occurring in four southern African countries: Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. In South Africa, it is recorded from four provinces with an extent of occurrence of 504,419 km2 and is found at elevations from 376 to 1,400 meters above sea level.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
What it does
This free-running ground spider lives in sand mounds left by termites and is a specialist predator of harvester termites. When disturbed, individuals dive head-first into sand. The species is found in areas where harvester termites are active and occurs in Forest, Grassland, Nama Karoo, and Savanna biomes. It has been recorded from agricultural areas including cabbage fields and pistachio orchards.
Wikipedia: “Habitat and ecology”
In human culture
The species name coccineus is derived from Latin, meaning "scarlet" or "deep red", likely referring to aspects of the spider's coloration.
Wikipedia: “Etymology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ammoxenus coccineus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 649191.