ISSUE #60

Today I'm writing about something that had truly never crossed my mind—termites. In my last newsletter I was trying to figure out what to write about and when I do that I usually just start asking questions that I've been thinking about recently. In doing that, a National Geographic article on termites came up. I read it and was fascinated. So behold... the mystery and power of termites!

A single termite is tiny and vulnerable and honestly not able to do much. But a couple million termites together can build mounds over 17 feet high that look like this:

Termites as a group form a superorganism—"a group of organisms which function together in a highly integrated way to accomplish tasks at the group level such that the whole can be considered collectively as an individual." (Springer Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior)
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This superorganism's collective work consists of taking care of the queen, who is basically a lone termite-making factory, maintaining the integrity of the mound, and feeding themselves. One species of termites (Macrotermitinae) also "farms" a specific fungus in a symbiotic relationship.

The fungus helps degrade the plant matter that the termites bring into the nest; you can kind of think of it as a materials processing plant on a termite level. There is some question though as to who gets more out of the relationship though, because the fungus basically gets food, water, shelter, and maintenance from termites. And one scientist who's studied termite mounds for decades thinks that the fungus might be using chemical signals to influence how the mound is built. This fungus farming might also help the surrounding soil. Abandoned termite mounds have extremely fertile soil, and termites are considered ecosystem engineers for all of the nutrients they put into the surrounding earth.
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Which brings us to the mound itself. You might think that termites live in the mound, in some type of high rise termite city situation. But the termites actually live fairly deep underground and the mound serves as the respiratory system for the termite nest, and like lungs, exchanges airflow. Bubble-like pockets throughout the mound help regulate air flow and gas exchange. And termites are constantly remodeling the mound and passing water throughout it to maintain a stable nest environment and proper moisture levels. The mound is almost an organism in itself because it is constantly changing and dynamic.

The way that termites maintain their mound is also catching the attention of architects. The porous nature of the mound provides inspiration for self-cooling buildings.

As I was writing this up I was thinking to myself, what about the art that you love highlighting in these articles, Marisa? Then I stumbled across this amazing looking termite mound in Australia and my brain lit up.

I'd seen that shape before. It was La Sagrada Familia by Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect. All of his buildings are very organic and fantastical, but none more so than this church, which has been under construction for 143 years (yes you read that right). For me, the similarities between his building and that mound above are undeniable—art mimics nature?