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.

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

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