Skip to main content

Laron (Macrotermes gilvus)

Laron (Macrotermes gilvus) is species of insects in Termitidae, eat cellulose in wood and fungi, nest in neglected soil, imago have wings, generally come out of the nest to colonize new territory at the beginning of the rainy season, each colony consists of kings-queens or reproductive, warriors and workers.

M. gilvus is very adaptive and invasive, lives in the tropics at an altitude of 0-1000 meters and builds underground nests in forests and neglected lands. The cycle starts with eggs, larvae and nymphs. The next stage is to become one of the workers, soldiers and reproductive imago.

Dlium Laron (Macrotermes gilvus)

Workers have the smallest size, white in color, whose job is to find food and build nests using soil, wood chew, saliva and their feces. They built a nest with complex construction and an area of up to 7 square meters.

The warrior has a larger size, a large red head, a pair of large claws in the mouth as a weapon and has the duty to guard the nests and colonies. Workers and soldiers are mostly blind where they spend their lives in the dark nest. They communicate using chemical and vibration signals.

Male and female reproductive imago have the task of reproducing and having wings when they are adults. They are the only ones who can see and fly out of the nest to find a partner and form a new colony at the beginning of the rainy season.

The ground getting wet is a signal for the herd to come out of the nest and fly to find a light source to warm themselves and find a partner. They take off their wings and go hand in hand looking for new nests to mate, lay eggs and make new colonies.



Imago will only live for one night if don't find a partner. Females produce up to 30 thousand eggs, but few manage to get on with life because of the presence of predators and the challenges faced when forming colonies.

Termites function as decomposers, protect the ecosystem and make the soil rich in organic compounds. Laron is a source of protein, fat and essential amino acids in Southeast Asia as a snack. Usually fried into chips. Laron are also a food source for the cultivation of tilapia fish.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Family: Termitidae
Genus: Macrotermes
Species: M. gilvus

Popular Posts

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Takenoshin Nakai swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum nakaianum) replaces V. magnificum and C. magnificum

NEWS - Researchers reported an erect herbaceous species distributed in the eastern part of Honshu Island, Vincetoxicum magnificum (Nakai) Kitag. based on Cynanchum magnificum Nakai, nomen nudum. Therefore, they named this species Takenoshin Nakai swallow-wort ( Vincetoxicum nakaianum K.Mochizuki & Ohi-Toma). Vincetoxicum Wolf (Asclepiadeae) is the third largest genus in the Asclepiadoideae consisting of about 260 species geographically extending from tropical Africa, Asia and Oceania to temperate regions of Eurasia. A total of 23 species are known from Japan, including 16 endemic species. Molecular phylogeny divides Japanese Vincetoxicum into four groups: the “Far Eastern” clade consisting of 11 endemic species and 4 more widespread species, 1 sister species to the “Far Eastern” clade, the “subtropical” clade consisting of 2 species and the “Vincetoxicum s. str.” clade consisting of 5 species. V. magnificum (Nakai) Kitag. (Japanese: tachi-gashiwa) is closely related to V. macro...

Red costate tiger moth (Aloa lactinea)

Red costate tiger moth ( Aloa lactinea ) is an animal species in the Erebidae, a moth with a wingspan of 40 mm, a yellow belly, black antennae with red basalt joints, dark red palpi on the sides and white below, black terminal joints, living in forests and agriculture in the lowlands to mountainous areas. A. lactinea has a white head with a red stripe on the back. Thorax is white. The wings are predominantly white in color with black dots on each corner of the cells and a red margin. The wings have branched pulse lines and a starchy surface. The wing-covered upper abdomen is black with large elliptical plots and is colored yellow forming cells. The lower abdomen is white and has fine hairs that fall out easily. A pair of antennas is black. The forelegs are red, white and black. The other legs are white on the top and black on the bottom. The final joints are white and black which form alternating rings. Tip and sole black all over. The larvae are black in color with a lateral crest ...