Macrotermes

Macrotermes
Structure of an M. natalensis mound
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Clade:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Blattodea
Family:Termitidae
Subfamily:Macrotermitinae
Genus:Macrotermes
Holmgren[1]
Species

See text

Macrotermes is a genus of termites belonging to the family Termitidae and widely distributed throughout Africa and South-East Asia.

Like other genera in the Macrotermitinae, they consume dead plant material indirectly by cultivating a Basidiomycete fungus of the genus Termitomyces on galleries inside - often very large - termite mounds. Frequently at the beginning of the rainy season, enormous swarms of winged flying adults disperse to establish new colonies.

Spores are sown on the wood in the nest and treated with a growth hormone. The termites feed on the resulting fungus garden alone, and no wood is consumed by the termites themselves.[2] The fungi produce heat 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. Carbon dioxide and oxygen is exchanged near the surface of the nest, and workers may open or block individual tunnels to regulate temperature.

Species

The following species have been described:[3][4]

  • Macrotermes acrocephalus
  • Macrotermes ahmadi
  • Macrotermes aleemi
  • Macrotermes annandalei
  • Macrotermes barneyi
  • Macrotermes beaufortensis
  • Macrotermes bellicosus
  • Macrotermes carbonarius
  • Macrotermes chaiglomi
  • Macrotermes choui
  • Macrotermes constrictus
  • Macrotermes convulsionarius
  • Macrotermes declivatus
  • Macrotermes denticulatus
  • Macrotermes falciger
  • Macrotermes gilvus
  • Macrotermes gratus
  • Macrotermes guangxiensis
  • Macrotermes hainanensis
  • Macrotermes herus
  • Macrotermes hopini
  • Macrotermes ituriensis
  • Macrotermes ivorensis
  • Macrotermes jeanneli[5]
  • Macrotermes jinghongensis
  • Macrotermes khajuriae
  • Macrotermes latignathus
  • Macrotermes latinotus
  • Macrotermes lilljeborgi
  • Macrotermes longiceps
  • Macrotermes longimentis
  • Macrotermes luokengensis
  • Macrotermes maesodensis
  • Macrotermes malaccensis
  • Macrotermes medogensis
  • Macrotermes meidoensis
  • Macrotermes menglongensis
  • Macrotermes michaelseni
  • Macrotermes mozambicanus
  • Macrotermes muelleri
  • Macrotermes natalensis
  • Macrotermes niger
  • Macrotermes nobilis
  • Macrotermes orthognathus
  • Macrotermes peritrimorphus
  • Macrotermes probeaufortensis
  • Macrotermes renouxi
  • Macrotermes scheuthlei
  • Macrotermes serrulatus
  • Macrotermes singaporensis
  • Macrotermes subhyalinus
  • Macrotermes trapezoides
  • Macrotermes trimorphus
  • Macrotermes ukuzii
  • Macrotermes vitrialatus
  • Macrotermes yunnanensis
  • Macrotermes zhejiangensis

References

  1. ↑ Holmgren N (1913) Termitenstudien 4. Versuch einer systematischen Monographie der Termiten der orientalischen Region. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 50(2):1-276
  2. ↑ Holm, Erik (2017). Insektopedie. Cape Town: Struik Nature. pp. 114–116. ISBN 978-1-77584-198-2.
  3. ↑ Termite catalogue
  4. ↑ Organism names
  5. ↑ Leuthold RH, Triet H, Schildger B (2004). Husbandry and breeding of African Giant Termites (Macrotermes jeanneli) at Berne Animal Park. Zool. Garten N. F. 74: 1, S. 26-37. Online: "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-02-25.


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