Inside their cavernous nests, they farm a fungus, which they feed with bits of wooden shrapnel. The fungus splits cellulose into smaller components, creating a compost that the termites then eat. Inside their guts, bacteria digest the fragments even further. The termites themselves contribute very little to this assault; their main role is to harbour the bacteria and cultivate the fungus. Without either partner, they starve.
Fungus and bacteria
