Northern Harvester Termite

Hodotermes mossambicus · Order: Blattodea · Family: Hodotermitidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Northern Harvester Termite
Photo: Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA

The Northern Harvester Termite lives in savannas and semi-arid areas of Africa. It is found across much of sub-Saharan Africa, including Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Its foraging can make it an agricultural pest.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in savanna and semi-arid habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Northern Harvester Termite photo 3
Photo: Bernard DUPONT, CC BY

Questions people ask

Is the Northern Harvester Termite a pest?

Yes, its foraging can make it an agricultural pest.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Hodotermitidae)

Southern Harvester TermiteSouthern Harvester TermiteMicrohodotermes viatorDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodotermes_mossambicus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.