Macrotermes
Sign in to saveAlso known as Giant termites
Macrotermes is a genus of termites belonging to the subfamily Macrotermitinae and widely distributed throughout Africa and South-East Asia. Well-studied species include Macrotermes natalensis and M. bellicosus.
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 18
- Family
- Termitidae
- Collections
- USNM, MZLU
- Recorded in
- Myanmar, Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The, Vietnam
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Life cycle
- Relationship with humans
- Species
- Gallery
- References
Macrotermes is a genus of termites belonging to the subfamily Macrotermitinae and widely distributed throughout Africa and South-East Asia. Well-studied species include Macrotermes natalensis and M. bellicosus.
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Macrotermes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.