Abstract
THE significance of the ‘fungus gardens’ found in the nests of termites of the family Termitidae is uncertain. It has been supposed that the fungi are used as food; but Grasse1 has shown that the conidia and the mycelium cannot be of great food value for a big colony, although the presence of the remains of conidia in the alimentary canal proves that they are sometimes eaten by the workers. The ‘fungus gardens’ may also take part in maintaining a suitable humidity2. In those species in which the brood is found in the ‘fungus gardens’, it has been thought that the ‘gardens’ form a suitable milieu for the delicate larvae. But as the brood may also be found (sometimes in the same species) elsewhere in the nest, this function has not been clearly demonstrated. The following observations made during an expedition of the Swiss Tropical Institute to East Africa in 1949 may throw new light on this problem.
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