ECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON TILE SYMBIOSIS OF TER ITOMYCES ...

In the dloostive system of H, bellicosus woricers,
Macrotermes'subhnllnus would appear to have a similar strategyj
apart from the absence of foodstorel with very little carriage of
Termit2=cps by the foragerse Rohrmann (1978) found fresh comb of
1kcrotermon uk-uxii lacked the hyphae of older co=b ltuUcating a similar
process here* Grasse (1937) also found no mycellum or spores In the
intestines of Proternes n1mitus'vorkerso
In contrast the Hicrotermes species carry Termitozryces In their
guts and the faecAl pelletal when placod- on tho combs are already
mixed with Termitopyces. On both selective and SP media there was no
difference In the 180lAti0n of Termit2MXcpa from the f resh and old comb
zones* With the Mcrotermes combs being small units In pockets In the
soil, more isolated from Other COMbs than am those of Macrotermen
bellicosus with Its centralized fungus comb in the nest, it in
nec4wsary for TermitEMces to be : introduced Into the food material by
the termites an It has M POSAIlbilItY of colonining fresh material
other combs as may occur In M. bellicosus- and other iqacr0t"rn0, g,
Ancistrotemes cavithorax, appears to be similar to Hicrotermes with
foragers. carrying Termit2ace3.
228.
. from
An well as tho interspecific differences In carriage of Termit Cos
there are also differences between castese In K. ýelllcqqux
the young
workers have a higher percentage of Termit2=ez in the out than nurse
workers, perhaps Indicating feeding differences* Other authors have
also found differences* Doflein (1906) found the crops of all larvae
and nymphs of 0dontatermas obscurleeps were filled with Temtt=cts,
but not the workers-* Spores of TemLIMces have bo6n'recorded from
the Cuts of 0dontoteMes obesus workers Was 2. t al. 1962)j large hymphxt