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Cathedral Termite
''Nasutitermes triodiae'', also known as the cathedral termite, is a grass-eating species of Nasutitermitinae termite that can be found in Northern Territory, Australia. It is also sometimes referred to as the spinifex termite, since it is found in the spinifex (also known as ''Triodia'') grasslands. Very little research has been done on the underground nature of this species. Description and behaviour Mounds ''Nasutitermes triodiae'' mostly live in Northern Territory, Australia. They are known for their skill at building "cathedrals". Mounds of the cathedral termites on the dry plains of the Northwest Territory dominate the landscape and often tower more than 15 feet in height. Constructed from mud, plant parts, and termite saliva and feces, the columns of the mound are extraordinarily tough and able to withstand the rigors of wind, rain, heat, and hungry predators. Construction of the hollow columns allows for internal circulation of air from the cooler soil at the base of t ...
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CSIRO ScienceImage 2043 Nasutitermes Triodiae Termites
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO maintains more than 50 sites across Australia as well as in France and the United States, employing over 6,500 people. Federally funded scientific research in Australia began in 1916 with the creation of the Advisory Council of Science and Industry. However, the council struggled due to insufficient funding. In 1926, research efforts were revitalised with the establishment of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which strengthened national science leadership and increased research funding. CSIR grew rapidly, achieving significant early successes. In 1949, legislative changes led to the renaming of the organisation as Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research ...
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Nasutitermes
''Nasutitermes'' is a genus of termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...s with a tropical distribution world-wide. Species The ''Termite Catalogue'' lists the following: # '' Nasutitermes acajutlae'' # '' Nasutitermes acangussu'' # '' Nasutitermes acutus'' # '' Nasutitermes aduncus'' # '' Nasutitermes alticola'' # '' Nasutitermes amboinensis'' # '' Nasutitermes anamalaiensis'' # '' Nasutitermes anjiensis'' # '' Nasutitermes anoniensis'' # '' Nasutitermes aquilinus'' # '' Nasutitermes araujoi'' # '' Nasutitermes arborum'' # '' Nasutitermes arenarius'' # '' Nasutitermes aruensis'' # '' Nasutitermes atripennis'' # '' Nasutitermes balingtauagensis'' # '' Nasutitermes banksi'' # '' Nasutitermes bannaensis'' # '' Nasutitermes bashanensis'' # '' Nasutitermes benjamini'' ...
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Termite
Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied, unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants but highly Apomorphy and synapomorphy, derived cockroaches. About 2,997 extant species are currently described, 2,125 of which are members of the family Termitidae. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the Taxonomic rank#All ranks, epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (the cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate Order (biology), order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood-eating cockroaches of t ...
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Nasutitermitinae
The Nasutitermitinae is a near Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan subfamily of Termitidae, higher termites represented by 81 genera and 605 species. The highly derived soldier caste exhibits vestigial mandibles and a protruding Fontanellar gun, fontanellar process on the head, known as the nasus, from which they can "shoot" chemical weaponry. Notable genera include the notorious wood-eating Nasutitermes, and the conspicuous Hospitalitermes and Constrictotermes, both distinguished for their brazen habit of forming extensive foraging trails exposed to the open. Genera The ''Termite Catalogue''Termite Catalogue (retrieved 7 July 2019)/ref> lists the following: References External links Tree of Life (TolWeb)
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15213827 Termites ...
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Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Australia to the west (129th meridian east), South Australia to the south (26th parallel south), and Queensland to the east (138th meridian east). To the north, the Northern Territory looks out to the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, including Western New Guinea and various other islands of the Indonesian archipelago. The NT covers , making it the third-largest Australian federal division, and List of country subdivisions by area, the 11th-largest country subdivision in the world. It is sparsely populated, with a population of only 249,000 – fewer than half the population of Tasmania. The largest population centre is the capital city of Darw ...
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Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and Climate of Australia, climates including deserts of Australia, deserts in the Outback, interior and forests of Australia, tropical rainforests along the Eastern states of Australia, coast. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct l ...
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Triodia (plant)
''Triodia'' is a large genus of hummock grass endemic to Australia. The species of this genus are known by the common name spinifex, although they are not a part of the coastal genus '' Spinifex''. Many soft-leaved ''Triodia'' species were formerly included in the genus ''Plectrachne''. ''Triodia'' is known as ''tjanpi'' (grass) in central Australia, and have several traditional uses amongst the Aboriginal Australian peoples of the region. A multiaccess key (SpiKey) is available as a free application for identifying the ''Triodia'' of the Pilbara (28 species and one hybrid). Description ''Triodia'' species are perennial Australian hummock grasses that grow in arid regions. Their leaves (30–40 centimetres long) are subulate ( awl-shaped, with a tapering point). The leaf tips, which are high in silica, can break off in the skin, leading to infections. Uses Spinifex has had many traditional uses for Aboriginal Australians. Several species were (and are) used extensively ...
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Feces
Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relatively small amount of metabolic waste products such as bacterially-altered bilirubin and dead epithelial cells from the lining of the gut. Feces are discharged through the anus or cloaca during defecation. Feces can be used as fertilizer or soil conditioner in agriculture. They can also be burned as dry animal dung fuel, fuel or dried and used for wattle and daub, construction. Some medicinal uses have been found. In the case of human feces, fecal transplants or fecal bacteriotherapy are in use. Urine and feces together are called excretion, excreta. Characteristics The distinctive odor of feces is due to skatole, and thiols (sulfur-containing compounds), as well as amines and carboxylic acids. Sk ...
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Eusociality
Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society, sometimes called castes. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms. Eusociality has evolved among the insects, crustaceans, trematoda and mammals. It is most widespread in the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and in Isoptera (termites). A colony has caste differences: queens and reproductive males take the roles of the sole reproducers, while soldiers ...
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Fontanellar Gun
The fontanellar gun is a termite Defense in insects#Chemical defenses, defense mechanism in the form of a horn-like frontal projection (''nasus'') on the head of the soldier caste which is capable of expelling chemical weaponry at a distance, a trait exclusive to the subfamily Nasutitermitinae. It is primarily used to anti-predator adaptation, ward off predators such as ants. Physiology and usage The "gun" is a gland with a duct on the front of the head. It operates by a chemical reaction triggered when the termite contracts its Mandible (insect mouthpart), mandibular muscles. The termite is "able to eject the frontal gland material over a distance of many centimeters". The gland material is forced out through the front of the internal nose and its pores, which covers much of the termite's head. Termites have been shown to be extremely accurate with the gun, even though they are blind. The exact nature of how termites retain such accuracy and are able to orient themselves toward th ...
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Monoterpene
Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen functionality or missing a methyl group, are called monoterpenoids. Monoterpenes and monoterpenoids are diverse. They have relevance to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural, and food industries. Biosynthesis Monoterpenes are derived biosynthetically from units of isopentenyl pyrophosphate, which is formed from acetyl-CoA via the intermediacy of mevalonic acid in the HMG-CoA reductase pathway. An alternative, unrelated biosynthesis pathway of IPP is known in some bacterial groups and the plastids of plants, the so-called MEP-(2-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate) pathway, which is initiated from C5 sugars. In both pathways, IPP is isomerized to DMAPP by the enzyme isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase. Geranyl pyrophosphate is the precu ...
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Sesquiterpene
Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many combinations. Biochemical modifications such as oxidation or rearrangement produce the related sesquiterpenoids. It is estimated (2006) that 3000 sesquiterpenes have been identified. Biosynthesis and examples The reaction of geranyl pyrophosphate with isopentenyl pyrophosphate results in the 15-carbon farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), which is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenes such as farnesene. Cyclic sesquiterpenes are more common than cyclic monoterpenes because of the increased chain length and additional double bond in the sesquiterpene precursors. In addition to common six-membered ring systems such as the ones found in zingiberene and bisacurone, cyclization of one end of the chain to the other end can lead to macrocyclic rings such as humulene. ...
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