--- title: "Mound-Building Termite (Macrotermes bellicosus) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A fungus-farming termite whose queens and kings can live as long as 20 years in the lab, while its workers live only a few months." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/mound-building-termite-1.webp" published: "2026-10-09" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Mound-Building Termite (*Macrotermes bellicosus*) > **Status**: Checked against 7 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A fungus-farming termite whose queens and kings can live as long as 20 years in the lab, while its workers live only a few months. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Krautrock & Electronic Pioneers // Terry Riley, "A Rainbow in Curved Air" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/5LoOvEPLbNBSRjWoKj7snC) > **Vibe Match**: Savannah mounds have a very efficient circular airflow during the day. Terry Riley's "A Rainbow in Curved Air" loops its organ patterns round and round, so the sound circulates the way air does through the mound. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Macrotermes bellicosus* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Queens and kings that can live as long as 20 years in the lab, in a colony that grows its own fungus - **Habitat**: African savannah, where colonies reach high densities; rarer in forest, and only in relatively open areas - **Diet**: Dead wood, grass litter and dung, with a Termitomyces fungus grown on fungus combs - **Tags**: insect, herbivore, social-colony, architect-builder, savanna ## Natural History & Behavior ## A queen built for eggs *Macrotermes bellicosus* is a fungus-growing, mound-building termite from Africa. Queens and kings are known to live as long as 20 years in the lab, while workers live only a few months. Queens of its genus, *Macrotermes*, are specialized egg-layers that produce about 20,000 eggs a day. Given how long they live, the researchers call them probably the most fecund terrestrial animals, meaning the most productive egg-layers on land. In one wild study population in Ivory Coast, a colony's median life expectancy once its mound appears is 6 years. Army ants that kill whole colonies are the major cause of chance deaths there once colonies are established. ## Two kinds of workers Workers are completely sterile. There are two worker castes, called majors and minors. Minors mostly work indoors, caring for young and building the mound. They are female and can develop into soldiers. Majors are male and generally do the more dangerous jobs, like foraging for food. Workers change jobs as they age. In a study that tracked marked workers, they moved from caring for the queen to foraging between day 13 and day 25 after their moult into adults for majors, and between day 9 and day 32 for minors. Their traffic to a foraging arena was highest at 20:00 in the evening and lowest at 7:00 in the morning. ## Fungus farmers These termites grow a fungus of the genus *Termitomyces* on fungus combs inside the nest. The two live in an obligate mutualistic symbiosis, a partnership neither side can do without. The termites' main food is dead wood, grass litter and dung. Colonies reach high densities in African savannah, while in forests they are comparatively rare and found only in relatively open areas. In a three-year study of both habitats, savannah colonies reproduced annually, producing high numbers of offspring called alates. Forest colonies reproduced on average only once every 3 years. > **Forest and savannah mounds** In Ivory Coast's Comoé National Park, mounds in the cooler gallery forest are dome-shaped with thick walls, while savannah mounds are more complex, with many ridges and thin walls. Savannah mounds have a very efficient circular airflow during the day. In the cooler forest, air moves upward less efficiently. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What do mound-building termites eat? Their principal food source is dead wood, grass litter and dung. They also farm a fungus, Termitomyces, on special structures within the nest called fungus combs, and the two depend on each other. *(Source: [Ejomah, Uyi & Ekaye 2020]())* ### What kills termite colonies in the wild? At Kakpin, next to the Comoé National Park, army ants kill complete colonies and are the major cause of random deaths after colonies are established. There, the estimated median lifespan of 36 mounds was 6 years after they emerged. *(Source: [Elsner, Meusemann & Korb 2018]())* ### Do people eat these termites? Yes. In western Kenya, people eat winged termites of four species, including this one. Across the four species, fat was 44.82 to 47.31 g per 100 g and protein 33.51 to 39.74 g per 100 g. *(Source: [Kinyuru et al. 2013]())* ## Sources 1. [Elsner, Meusemann & Korb (2018). Longevity and transposon defense, the case of termite reproductives. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.]() 2. [Hinze & Leuthold (1999). Age related polyethism and activity rhythms in the nest of the termite Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Termitidae). Insectes Sociaux.]() 3. [Korb & Linsenmair (1999). Reproductive success of Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Macrotermitinae) in two neighbouring habitats. Oecologia.]() 4. [Korb (2003). Thermoregulation and ventilation of termite mounds. Naturwissenschaften.]() 5. [Korb & Linsenmair (1998). Experimental heating of Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Macrotermitinae) mounds: what role does microclimate play in influencing mound architecture? Insectes Sociaux.]() 6. [Ejomah, Uyi & Ekaye (2020). Exposure of the African mound building termite, Macrotermes bellicosus workers to commercially formulated 2,4-D and atrazine caused high mortality and impaired locomotor response. PLOS ONE.]() 7. [Kinyuru et al. (2013). Nutrient composition of four species of winged termites consumed in western Kenya. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis.]() *Published October 9, 2026. 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