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Macrotermes bellicosus is a species of Macrotermes.The queens are the largest amongst known termites, measuring about 4.2 inches (110 mm) long when physogastric. The workers average 0.14 in (3.6 mm) in length and soldiers are slightly larger.
[1] The queen, a mated female, is monogamous, and will lay her eggs in spurts followed by periods of inactivity. [8] Egg production in termite queens is positively correlated with the size of the queen who then becomes wingless after her Nuptial flight. [2] Termite queens are able to live for decades with the longest recorded length of 28.5 ...
[90] [95] If a queen is absent, a termite king produces pheromones which encourage the development of replacement termite queens. [102] As the queen and king are monogamous, sperm competition does not occur. [103] Termites going through incomplete metamorphosis on the path to becoming alates form a subcaste in certain species of termite ...
The termite mound is able to regulate temperature, humidity and respiratory gas distribution. An early proposition suggested a thermosiphon mechanism. [ 2 ] The heat created due to the metabolism of termites imparts sufficient buoyancy to the nest air to push it up into the mound and eventually to the mound’s porous surface where heat and ...
All the fungus-growing termite colonies are similar caste systems. Each caste plays a different role in the colony, but it is not yet known how caste selection occurs. The primary reproductive caste or royal pair is made up of a king and a queen. The winged alates make up the secondary reproductive caste. Sterile castes do not possess any ...
Physogastrism or physogastry is a characteristic of certain arthropods (mostly insects and mites), where the abdomen is greatly enlarged and membranous. The most common examples are the "queens" of certain species of eusocial insects such as termites, bees and ants, in which the abdomen swells in order to hold enlarged ovaries, thus increasing fecundity.
The mounds built by this termite can be up to 4 m (13 ft) tall, 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) deep. [1] The nests are laterally flattened and are oriented so that they receive the warmth of the sun on their eastern and western sides in the morning and evening while exposing less surface to the sun at midday when the nest might ...
The Macrotermitinae, the fungus-growing termites, constitute a subfamily of the family Termitidae that is only found within the Old World tropics.. This subfamily consists of 12 genera and about 350 species and are distinguished by the fact that they cultivate fungi inside their nests to feed the members of the colony.