It is a unique mechanism. They use it to mass build their meter-high nests. They have complex communication and ventilation structures inside. What is the architectural secret of termites?
Researchers led by the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca (Italy) revealed it. They created small arenas with artificial structures of different heights and shapes using wet clay.
Raising structures
They then collected small populations of termites. They quantified their building behavior in response to these structures. They thus found the coordination mechanism used for nest construction.
In the case of ants, it is believed that they impregnate the building material with a pheromone. It attracts other ants to the construction site and “tells” them where to build. This is not the case with termites. Material collections occurred throughout the arena. But the depositions were all located on top of the already existing structures.
Termites always preferred to build in places with greater curvature. They added small balls to the top of the pillars (regardless of their height). How could termites so reliably detect the curvature of the structures they were building? Water evaporation and humidity could have something to do with this.
Moisture detectors
«Termites are very sensitive to humidity concentrations. They have a thin exoskeleton and soft skin. “Prolonged exposure to humidity levels below 70% can be lethal for them.” It is explained by Andrea Perna, research coordinator. “They sense these humidity gradients and respond to them with their behavior.”
The architectural secret of termites is related to their reaction to humidity. «In our experiments, the complexity of the nest arises from a single simple mechanism. Termites only need to add pellets of material depending on the local humidity. But the pellets they add in turn change the entire pattern of evaporation and humidity, inducing other termites to build in a different location. And so on, until very complex structures are produced,” they concluded.
