Environmental Influence on Physico-Chemical and Biological Activities of Fungus Growing Termite (Isoptera:Macrotermitinae)

Fungus cultivating termites are important, highly specific insect microbe symbionts in Asia and Africa: The aim of this study was to determine physical, chemical and biological parameters of the fungus comb of Macrotermitinae collected from the different locations of Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu. The pH of the fungus comb was 4.4 to 4.8 and moisture content about 46.92 to 52.80%. The Carbohydrate: Lignin ratio of old combs varied between 1.55 to 2.08 (w/w) and C: L ratio of New comb varied between 0.6 to 0.86 (w/w). The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content of fungus comb varied from 0.75 to 1.8%, 0.175 to 0.193% and 0.075 to 0.08% on dry weight of fungus comb, respectively. The distribution of other fungi and also the symbiotic fungi Termitomyces in the nest of Macrotermitinae was also investigated in this study.