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Ammoxenus psammodromus
Ammoxenus psammodromus is a species of spider in the family Gnaphosidae. It is found in southern Africa and is known as the sand-loving termite feeding spider.
From the article Ammoxenus psammodromus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
A. psammodromus possesses the typical Ammoxenus morphology. Both males and females are known for this species.
Range & habitat
A. psammodromus is found in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. The species was originally described from Botswana by Eugène Simon in 1910. In South Africa, it is recorded from four provinces at elevations from 605 to 1,345 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 abundant in areas where these termites are active. The species has been recorded from Grassland, Nama Karoo, and Savanna biomes.
Wikipedia: “Habitat and ecology”
In human culture
The species name psammodromus is derived from Ancient Greek, meaning "sand-runner", referring to the spider's ability to move rapidly across sandy surfaces and dive into sand.
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 psammodromus 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 649198.