Trunk Trail Foraging of the Fungus-Growing Termite Macrotermes carbonarius (Hagen) in Southeastern Thailand.

The temporal and spatial change of foraging activity of Macrotermes carbonarius (Hagen) was studied in a durian orchard of southeastern Thailand. This termite is the only open-air foraging species of the fungus-growing Macrotermitinae. Workers constructs “pavement” trackways on the ground, which are used as trunk trails to connect foraging holes to foraging sites. This is the first paper to show the trunk trail foraging in fungus-growing termites. The major workers made pavement trackways paved with soil and fecal pellets which open-air foraging columns used for traveling to the foraging area. The pavement trackway was longer than the subterranean gallery. Foraging workers spread from the end of the pavement trackway onto the foraging area, where they picked up dead grass from the ground surface and carried it into the foraging hole. The soldiers led the advancing column to a foraging site and guarded both sides of the column, facing away from the column’s edge. The outskirts of foraging area were guarded by minor and major soldiers and several minor soldiers always went ahead of the column, playing the role of scouts. Foraging took place only in the dry season and at night, and foraging areas were changed irregularly. In most instances, a single foraging site and one foraging hole was used for each foraging bout. The same pavement trackways and foraging sites were rarely used for two consecutive days.