Diet

• Nasutitermes is a genus of wood-feeding termites that obtains most of its nutrition from cellulose-rich plant material.

• Workers consume dead and decaying wood, fallen branches, bark, leaf litter and other woody plant debris, with gut microorganisms helping break down cellulose.

• Some species also exploit living vegetation, but much of their ecological importance comes from decomposing woody material and recycling nutrients.

Range

• Nasutitermes has a predominantly tropical distribution and occurs across tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

• Nasutitermes occurs in the Zihuatanejo region, where suitable warm forest habitats support several types of wood-feeding termites.

• The exact species present locally cannot always be determined from the nest alone because several Nasutitermes species have similar colonies and overlapping habitats.

Habitat

• Nasutitermes species are primarily associated with forests, woodland and other habitats containing abundant woody material.

• Colonies may be established in trees, dead branches, stumps, fallen logs, tree cavities and other woody structures.

• Some species construct conspicuous carton nests on tree trunks, branches or other elevated surfaces, while others build nests closer to or below ground level.

• In Zihuatanejo, suitable habitat includes tropical dry forest, forest edges, secondary vegetation, gardens and areas containing dead or decaying wood.

• Foraging workers may travel through covered earthen or carton-covered galleries between the nest and food sources.

Description

• Nasutitermes is a genus of highly social termites in the family Termitidae.

• Colonies contain specialized castes, including workers, soldiers and reproductive individuals.

• The soldiers are particularly distinctive because the head is extended into a pointed, nozzle-like structure called a nasus.

• Soldiers use the nasus to discharge a sticky defensive secretion that can deter predators and other threats.

• Workers are generally pale brown, soft-bodied and wingless, while soldiers have a darker, more heavily developed head and the characteristic pointed nasus.

• Many species construct conspicuous brown carton nests, which may be roughly spherical or irregular and can become quite large; some Nasutitermes nests may approach 1 m in diameter.