Macrotermes

Macrotermes is a <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> of <a href="/facts/Termite/KRFbDumW">termites</a> belonging to the <a href="/facts/Subfamily/2QPtfDS4">subfamily</a> <a href="/facts/Macrotermitinae/pKM7y7AF">Macrotermitinae</a> and widely distributed throughout <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a> and <a href="/facts/South-East_Asia/VafwT517">South-East Asia</a>. Well-studied species include <a href="/facts/Macrotermes_natalensis/Uzcu2cgu">Macrotermes natalensis</a> and <a href="/facts/Macrotermes_bellicosus/CRfBglxz">M. bellicosus</a>.
Like other genera in the <a href="/facts/Macrotermitinae/pKM7y7AF">Macrotermitinae</a>, they consume dead plant material indirectly by cultivating a <a href="/facts/Basidiomycete/LuFeC7D2">basidiomycete</a> <a href="/facts/Fungus/BHo5DP59">fungus</a> of the genus <a href="/facts/Termitomyces/MFFSThp6">Termitomyces</a> on galleries inside – often very large – termite mounds. Frequently at the beginning of the <a href="/facts/Rainy_season/k3xU5RU4">rainy season</a>, enormous swarms of <a href="/facts/Alate/Dbw19pPv">winged flying adults</a> disperse to establish new colonies.
<a href="/facts/Spore/6qDRdcrs">Spores</a> are sown on the wood in the <a href="/facts/Nest/7tq5lt4V">nest</a> and treated with a growth hormone. The termites feed on the resulting fungus garden. The fungi produce <a href="/facts/Heat/FjDGssCs">heat</a> in the nest, which rises towards the closed chimney. The heat is exchanged via the chimney, and its smaller tunnels that lead to the surface. <a href="/facts/Carbon_dioxide/xGzpppEp">Carbon dioxide</a> and <a href="/facts/Oxygen/acyn6o8r">oxygen</a> are exchanged near the surface of the nest, and workers may open or block individual tunnels to regulate <a href="/facts/Temperature/QyGe4gmj">temperature</a>.

Macrotermes open-in-new

Macrotermes