Macrotermes gilvus

This is a termite, and that is exactly the point. Rather than foraging like ants, Macrotermes gilvus farms a fungus garden deep in the nest, cultivating it on chewed plant matter to feed the colony, which is biology you rarely get to watch up close. The queen becomes a swollen egg-laying engine while the workers and majors run the farm and defend it, and over time the society can scale to extraordinary numbers. It is firmly a Pro project: the fungus depends on a stable, humid, warm environment, and any lapse risks the garden rather than just the insects. For the right keeper it is a rare and absorbing thing to raise.

Macrotermes are fungus-growers. Foragers gather dead wood, leaf litter and dry plant matter, then compost it into a fungus comb inside the nest; the colony actually eats the cultivated fungus and the nutritious nodules it produces, not the raw cellulose itself.

★★★ readily · ★★ moderately · ★ occasionally · ✗ not eaten

This is a termite, so the build leans toward a sealed terrarium, not a standard formicarium. Start a young pairing in a small lidded humid box with deep substrate to tunnel, then expand to a far larger enclosure as numbers swell past the thousands and the fungus garden establishes. Near-saturated air keeps that garden alive, so the lid must seal and walls stay smooth. A fluon (PTFE), oil, or talc-and-water rim adds safety. ANTonTOP ant formicaria and kits are built for ants, so scale a termite setup up from those.

This termite needs warmth and near-saturated air: nest at 25-28 °C, arena at 25-29 °C, with very high humidity of 75-90% in the nest and 65-80% in the arena. Maintain a warm, humid gradient and mist to keep the substrate damp, since the fungus garden depends on it. There is no hibernation; it stays active year-round and must never be cooled.

Establishment is slow while the fungus comb takes hold, but once it is running the colony expands enormously, climbing from tens of thousands into the millions as the physogastric queen lays without pause. You receive a starter colony with the queen, workers and brood to begin the fungus-garden build.

• Macrotermes mounds are some of the largest structures any insect builds, with chimneys and vents that passively ventilate the nest and hold the interior climate remarkably steady.
• The fungus they farm, Termitomyces, is found almost nowhere else in nature, and the partnership between termite and fungus goes back tens of millions of years.
• The queen becomes physogastric: her abdomen balloons until she can no longer move, and a mature Macrotermes queen can lay tens of thousands of eggs in a single day.
• The big-jawed soldiers defend the colony chemically and mechanically, and in many regions the seasonal flights of winged reproductives are harvested as food by people.

Is Macrotermes gilvus good for beginners?

No, it is rated Pro and is a large, humidity-demanding fungus-growing termite.

Does this fungus-growing termite need a winter rest?

No. It is tropical and active year-round; never cool it.

Does Macrotermes gilvus sting or bite?

No, it is a termite and has no sting.

How big does a Macrotermes gilvus colony get?

Very large, from tens of thousands up to millions of individuals.

How big is the queen?

The physogastric queen reaches 40-100 mm; workers are 3-4 mm and majors 8-12 mm.

How fast does it grow?

Slow to establish, then explosive once the fungus garden and worker force are running.

What does it eat?

Cellulose: dead wood, leaf litter and dry plant matter that it uses to farm fungus; it does not eat insects or seeds.

How is it shipped and will it arrive alive?

It ships as a starter colony with the queen, workers and brood, with a heat or cool pack, sent within 24 hours with tracking to minimise travel time.

Escape prevention. Coat the inner rim of every open arena with fluon (PTFE), or use talc-and-water or an oil barrier as a backup, and keep a tight, fine-mesh lid on top. Check the barrier regularly, since dust, condensation and feeding debris break a fluon line over time. Keep tubing connectors tight and seal any gaps in the nest.

Keeping reminders. Always offer fresh water and never let the nest dry out completely. Supply dead wood, leaf litter and dry plant matter for the fungus garden to compost, and never offer sugar, protein or insects. Keep the formicarium out of direct sunlight and away from constant vibration, which stresses a young colony. A water-filled test tube plugged with cotton makes an ideal spare incubator whenever you need one.

Before you buy – do not rehouse too early. Have a test-tube setup or a small formicarium with an outworld and a working barrier ready before your colony arrives. A founding colony grows slowly at first, which is normal. Moving a small colony into a large nest too soon invites mould, mites and stress, and the workers die off one by one. Keep the colony in its open test tube on the arena, plug the nest entrance with cotton, and open up the next chambers only once the colony fills roughly 10-15% of the space.

What we ship. Every colony ships with a live-arrival guarantee, backed by our 24h unboxing-video guarantee: if the queen does not arrive alive, we reship free. Parcels travel with DHL, InPost (PL) or EMS, with a heat or cold pack to suit the season, packed discreetly and securely. We ship across the EU and worldwide, with free shipping over the Europe threshold.