| Termites are often called white ants, but are totally | | | | crops of fungi, which they then feed on. |
| unrelated to ants. For starters, termites belong to the | | | | In the center of the nest, near the base, lies the royal |
| order Isoptera while ants belong to the order | | | | chamber in which the queen and king reside. A steady |
| Hymenoptera. It gets a little more complicated from | | | | stream of workers tend to her needs, and collects the |
| there. Some termite species actually do look and | | | | eggs which she hatches, which can be up to |
| behave like ants, but the trick is to look at their | | | | thousands a day. And as much as she is an egg laying |
| antennae and their waists. Termites have no waists to | | | | machine and the queen of the colony, the queen is |
| speak of, whereas ants do. Also, termites have | | | | imprisoned along with the king, in the royal chamber |
| straight antennae, while ants have bent antennae. | | | | and cannot leave it for the rest of their lives, as the |
| It also should be realized that all termites are | | | | entry holes are too small for them to pass through. |
| vegetarian while ants are mostly carnivorous, although | | | | Other areas in the mound contain nurseries which |
| not all are. Being vegetarian meant that some termite | | | | house the eggs and nymphs, while a complicated |
| species evolved into fungus growers, and construct | | | | system of air vents regulate the flow of air in the |
| the biggest structures in the animal kingdom on a size | | | | mound, which the termites control by closing and |
| to nest ratio. That is why termites earned their | | | | opening. Other tunnels lead to the water table, keeping |
| reputation as the undisputed master architects of the | | | | the moisture and humidity levels constant. Thus, the |
| animal kingdom. | | | | termites are able to perform a marvelous feat of |
| Not all species are able to build mounds though; the | | | | engineering in the desert like conditions of the African |
| ones that do build the biggest mounds belong to the | | | | plains. |
| family Macrotermes, and can build mounds almost ten | | | | Thus have termites managed to survive for millennia, |
| meters high and four meters wide at the base. Within, | | | | by utilizing a mysterious "swarm intelligence" which |
| the mounds provide an environment where the | | | | humans have been unable to fathom until today. It is no |
| temperature is constant, and the termites are able to | | | | wonder they have been called super organisms. |
| construct specialized "gardens" made from wood | | | | Perhaps, mankind can learn a thing or two from the |
| particles from their foraging activities, in order to grow | | | | termites. |