Diet and nest material of the processional termite Hospitalitermes, and cohabitation of Termes (Isoptera, Termitidae) on Borneo Island

Summary:

The processional termite Hospitalitermes is distributed over Southeast Asia and leaves the nest to forage in the open for lichens and other materials, primarily from tree trunks and canopies in rain forests. The diet of this genus, which is carried by workers in the form of food balls, has been thought to be valuable, because open-air foraging seems to have the risk of predation. We investigated the chemical composition (CHN ratio, amino acid composition and ash content) of food balls which the workers carry back from foraging sites to the nest. Nitrogen content of the food balls was 10 - 60 times as much as wood, which is the general food of the majority of termites, and suggests that the food balls are an important dietary source of nitrogen in this genus. At the study site a majority of Hospitalitermes nests are covered with the nest of a coexisting termite in the genus Termes. Since the nest materials of Termes contains much minerals, they are physically solid. They form the exterior shell of the Hospitalitermes nest (which is very fragile). In comparison with the nest materials of Hospitalitermes, Termes nests contain much less nitrogen. From this study, it is possible that some interactions between the two genera may exist especially in terms of nutrition.