TERMITE TRUFFLES. 207 



Termites are the destroyers of wood. It appears that only a few 

 species attack living wood ; most kinds content themselves with 

 dead wood or such as has been in any way already damaged 

 by fungi. In the open therefore they are beneficial rather than 

 injurious, since they act as scavengers of rotten wood. But when 

 they come into contact with man they become some of the most 

 injurious insects of the tropics, since woodwork which is adapted 

 for their purposes forms an important constituent of human 

 dwellings and furniture. 



The wood is bitten up quite fine, in the substance of the 

 fungus cakes and in the intestinal contents of the workers 

 one finds the finest vessels of the wood isolated. This wood- 

 brew is discharged through the vent as a small clump which 

 is evidently mixed with saliva and used in building the fungus 

 cakes. It is interesting to note that in other cases where Termites 

 build their dwelling or the main part of it out of dung, the same 

 fundamental arrangement of walls and passages recurs, as here, 

 where they build for the purpose of the fungus cultivation. 



If a fungus cake from a Termite nest be exposed to the light 

 under a bell-jar to protect it from draught and evaporation, the 

 fructification of the Termite fungus can be easily induced, a 

 property which distinguishes it markedly from the Rhozites 

 forms cultivated by the Atta species. After a few days numerous 

 long club-shaped fructifications grow forth from the thick felt of 

 hyphae which has meanwhile developed. I will say no more 

 about the species and form of the fungus in this place as my 

 studies are not yet completed. I need only point out that other 

 species of fungi appeared very gradually on the cake, whereas 

 other objects in the vicinity were subject to a daily coating 

 of mould. The tendency of the fungus cultures of the Termites 

 to grow in pure culture appears to be very strong, even when the 

 cake contains scarcely any Termites. The purity of the culture 

 cannot therefore be placed to the account of the tireless weeding 

 by the workers, as is done by Moller for the fungus plantations 

 of Atta. At the conclusion I will revert to this point once more. 



When a Termite truffle is kept under a bell-jar with moderate 

 access of air, in very short time the inner surface of the jar is 

 covered with water drops which after some hours run in small 

 streams down the glass and form small accumulations of water 

 in which the Termites can be drowned. The fungus cake 

 therefore gives ofi: a quantity of water by evaporation. Under 

 such great moisture the fructification of the fungus takes place 

 and the formation of mycelial nodules is stopped and the entire 

 structure tends in high degree to mouldiness. 



