termite have become among the most successful clade of fauna , yet they could not have done it without their gut bacterium . A sketch of this microbiota has let on something extraordinarily complex and finely tune , as well as the role of cannibalism in the termite ' winner .
Breaking down the lignocellulose of wood is unvoiced , and few animals have evolve to do it . The bacterium in a termite ’s intestine convert their food to sugars , which then become the termite ’s zip informant . Working out how this is done could be the key to better biofuels . We could see at white ant as nothing more than vehicles that move their bacteria around to get at more woodwind . Indeed , gut bacteria make up an stupefying two - thirds of white ant weight . However , this misses the other accomplishment of white ant : catch diverse bacterium to cooperate with particular efficiency .
“ There can be up to 5,000 different species of microbe ‘ machines ’ in a termite catgut , and many thousand clones of each kind,”Professor Nathan Loof Sydney University said in astatement . Humans have about 1,000 species , and as Lo noted to IFLScience , the human catgut is a lot larger , making the proportion by volume look a lot more impressive .
Although the grandness of termite gut bacterium has been known for a century , Lo recount IFLScience there ’s been argumentation about these microbes ' transmission . One theory held they were passed on from generation to generation within the nest , while the other advise termite picked them up from their environment .
InCurrent Biology , Lo has present that while much transmission system takes place within the nest , transfer also come about between termite specie . Lo told IFLScience : “ When compare the bowel bacteria we canvas with everything else on the database , termite bacterium was always more standardized to species from other termites than to anything else . ” He conclude that termites rarely collect new bacterial species from the soil , and quickly adapt what they take in to fit their need .
From there , bacteria have a gruesome way of getting to other termite species . “ In conflict between soldiers of one colony with soldier or workers of another colony , the body of the losing termite can be severed and its intestine content ( containing the microbes ) take in by the winning white ant , ” Lo said .
Having evolved from lousy Mrs. Henry Wood - eating cockroaches , termites spent the first hundred million year of their existence sticking to what they knew . However , Lo told IFLScience diversification began 40 - 50 million age ago , with some species eating leafage litter while others go the whole way to consuming soil .
The extent of termite success can be measured by estimates that their corporate exercising weight is greater than any other related group of beast besides cattle . Estimates are of grade changeable , but Lo differentiate IFLScience useable figures indicate white ant together with weigh more than all the world ’s krill , whale , or humans .
