Termites: The Inner Sanctum Page #3

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or cooling down.

Their thin skins also can't cope

with cold fog and rain.

The rain clouds pass,

the march goes on.

This expedition has gone well,

with no predator attacks.

The losses to the carnivorous plants

will go unnoticed.

Once back at base, the colony

will stay underground for 10 days,

processing the harvest,

tending to the brood.

Back in America,

the war on termites continues.

You can poison them,

gas them,

or zap them.

But there's only one problem.

However efficiently a

building is cleansed,

right next door, in the back yard,

a new generation of

termites may be emerging,

primed to re-invade.

In this war,

termites outnumber humans.

In east Africa, the same is true,

but here, termites aren't seen as pests.

This gigantic, single-vent termite mound

says it all.

Termites dominate life here.

On a human scale, this tower

would be 1,700 meters high.

They have to build high

in order to get the ventilation system

to work efficiently.

So basically, the denser

and higher the trees,

the taller the mounds get.

But it's quite impressive, isn't it?

To see a colony building a new vent,

Jo and Reinhard have to

put in a night shift.

This mound is still a construction site.

They need a gentle light source

to see the termites

without disturbing them.

An infrared camera will let Reinhard

record the colony's activity.

Tens of thousands of builders bring up

clay and water from deep underground.

In the short run, these termites

are mining building materials.

In the long run, the minerals

they fetch from the deep

enrich the top soil.

They mix the clay in their jaws

with water they carry in their bodies.

To find it, these

termites may dig shafts

all the way down to the groundwater,

60 meters or more below the surface.

The work is hectic, but it's orderly,

and it never stops.

The mound is living, eating,

and breathing like one huge animal.

The comparison with an

animal is a good one.

The breath of a termite colony

is nearly as warm as a mammal's.

It's also super-saturated with moisture,

reflecting the internal

climate of the nest.

When a rare shower cools the air,

you can see the vent steaming.

By first light, this vent has grown

by half a meter.

It's not finished yet.

Later, all the gaps will be filled.

The termites regulate the flow of gases

so the queen's chamber stays

at 30 degrees centigrade,

and close to 100% humidity.

This mound

is alive

and breathing.

But not all mounds

breathe in the same way,

as Jo Darlington discovers.

The difference is mostly

in the ventilation systems.

The different species have chosen

to use different ways of

ventilating the mound.

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