The Philippine Journal of Science, C. Botany. 
Vol. XIII, No. 4, July, 1918. 
THE FUNGI CULTIVATED BY TERMITES IN THE VICINITY 
OF MANILA AND LOS BAnOS 
By William H. Brown 
(From the College of Liberal Arts, University of the Philippines, and from 
the Bureau of Science, Manila) 
TWO PLATES 
It is well known that certain species of termites use their 
excreta for building combs upon which grow fungi that serve 
as food for the young and for the queen. Petch 1 has given 
a very extensive account of the fungi of the termite nests of 
Ceylon and, more recently, has written a general review of the 
literature on termite fungi. In the latter publication 2 he has 
shown that the same fungi occur on termite combs in very 
widely separated geographical regions. 
Certain termites, which are very common in the vicinity of 
Manila, build nests that in many ways are similar to those 
described by Petch. These nests are of two types. One con- 
sists of a mound of earth which may be a meter or more in 
height and frequently in addition has cavities underground. The 
other is entirely underground. Within the nest are a large 
number of cavities connected by passages. In the center of the 
mounds (Plate III, fig. 1) there is usually a hard portion which 
contains the queen chamber and smaller cavities and passages 
connected with it. Outside of this region the cavities are larger 
and usually contain combs. Plate III, fig. 2, represents a section 
of the outer portion of a large nest. 
The combs (Plate IV, fig. 1) are composed of small balls 
closely packed together and appear to be built from the excre- 
ment of the termites. In this, they agree with Petch’s descrip- 
tion. Their composition is quite different from the substratum 
of the “fungus gardens” of the Attii which according to Belt 3 
are usually composed of fragments of leaves but also of flowers 
1 Petch, T., The fungi of certain Termite nests, Ann. Bot. Gard. Pera- 
deniya 3 (1906) 185-270, f. 3. 
'Petch, T., Termite Fungi: A resume, Ann. Bot. Gard. Peradeniya 5 
(1913) 303-341. 
3 Belt, Thomas, The Naturalist in Nicaragua (1874), ed. 2 (1888). 
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