Termites and their Habits

Abstract

TWO interesting papers on termites and their habits, by Mr. T. Fetch (reprinted from the Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, November, 1913), have reached us. The author has already made a special study of the fungi which grow in termite nests, and not only serve as food for the insects, but are also frequently cultivated by the latter, and undergo remarkable changes in form and mode of growth as the result. The first paper deals with a supposed association of white ants with a mushroom-like fungus, and though the facts are not yet definitely established, it would seem probable that after a period of cultivation in the termite nest this fungus loses its vigour, and in order to remedy this defect the termites carry spherical masses of the fungus up to the surface and plant them out in places where they will develop spores, which the termites convey back to the nest as “seed” for a new fungus crop.