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Ammoxenus pentheri
Ammoxenus pentheri is a species of spider in the family Gnaphosidae. It is found in southern Africa and is known as Penther's termite feeding spider.
From the article Ammoxenus pentheri on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
A. pentheri exhibits the characteristic morphology of Ammoxenus species. Both males and females are known for this species.
Range & habitat
A. pentheri is found in Botswana and South Africa. In South Africa, it is recorded from four provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, and Western Cape. The species occurs at elevations from 63 to 1,799 meters above sea level.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
What it does
This free-running ground spider lives in sand mounds left by termites and is very fast-moving. When disturbed, individuals dive head-first into sand. They are specialist predators of harvester termites and are found in areas where these termites are active. The species has been recorded from Fynbos, Grassland, Savanna, Succulent Karoo, and Thicket biomes.
Wikipedia: “Habitat and ecology”
In human culture
The species is named after Arnold Penther, an Austrian naturalist and collector who gathered specimens in southern Africa.
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 pentheri 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 649196.