Termites on an eroded piece of wood.
Termites, also called white ants, belong to the oldest state-forming insects.
| Wood-eating termites
Most of the termites feed on wood, but they can not digest the wood by themselves. Particles, roughly hackled by special mouth tools, reach a stomage tainted with chitine tooths through a crop. For some species the release of cellulose degrading enzymes has been demonstrated. However, the mayor part of the digesting process is done by protists (mainly flagellates), bacteria and yeasts. |
Movement symbiosis
