Non-soil constituents of termite (Coptotermes acinaciformis) mounds

Abstract

The exterior wall of the mound of C. acinaciformi8 was extracted with various solvents and the extracts compared with similar products derived from the soil from which the mounds had been constructed. Two types of compound were obtained in greater yield from the mound than from the soil and it was concluded that these compounds had been incorporated into the mound by the termites. The first type of additive was a polysaccharide or mixture of polysaccharides of the hemicellulose group, probably derived from incompletely digested plant particles in the termite faeces. The second type of additive was identified as belonging to the glycoprotein group, is assumed to function as an adhesive in construction of the wall, and may originate in an insect excretion. © 1972 CSIRO.