I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

by Ed Yong

Protists are mostly found in the guts of the earliest termite groups: the disparagingly named ‘lower termites’. The high-falutin’ ‘higher termites’ evolved later; they rely more on bacteria, which they house in a series of stomachs that are almost cow-like in their organisation.22 The even more grandiosely named macrotermites are the newest arrivals on the scene, and they have the most sophisticated strategy for destroying wood: agriculture. 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.