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Symphiles
Symphiles are insects or other organisms which live as welcome guests in the nest of a social insect (such as the ant, myrmecophily, or termite, termitophily) by which they are fed and guarded. The relationship between the symphile and host may be symbiotic, inquiline or parasitic. Symphile taxa This is a selection of taxa exhibiting symphilia, not a complete list. ''Fibularhizoctonia'' '' Fibularhizoctonia'', sometimes referred to as cuckoo fungus due to their adaptation to mimic termite eggs, employ chemical and morphological mimicry to benefit from the defense termites provide their brood. If termite workers are present to care for a brood which contains cuckoo fungus, the sclerotia, or "termite balls", are unlikely to germinate and their presence will increase the survival rate of the termite eggs. When worker termites were experimentally removed from brood that contained slerotia, the fungus germinated by exploiting the termite eggs. This means the termitophilic relationshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitophily
Termitophiles are macro-organisms adapted to live in association with termites or their nests. They include vertebrates, invertebrates and fungi and can either be obligate termitophiles (those that cannot live without the termites) or non-obligate termitophiles (those that can live independently and make use of the termite nests facultatively or opportunistically). Termitophiles may spend a just a part or the whole of their lifecycle inside a termite nest. The term termitariophily has been suggested as a term to describe the situation where a foreign organism merely uses the termite nest. Termites live in colonies and construct nests whose environments are controlled. The temperature, humidity, and other conditions inside the nests may be more favourable than the outdoor environment for the termitophiles while potentially also making use of the food resources within the nest, including the fungi grown by the colony or the eggs or larvae being reared. Termitophilous insects avoid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
