Termitophile

Termitophiles are macro-organisms adapted to live in association with termites or their nests. They include vertebrates, invertebrates and fungi and can either be obligate termitophiles (those that cannot live without the termites) or non-obligate termitophiles (those that can live independently and make use of the termite nests facultatively or opportunistically). Termitophiles may spend a just a part or the whole of their lifecycle inside a termite nest. The term termitariophily has been suggested as a term to describe the situation where a foreign organism merely uses the termite nest.^[1]

Termites live in colonies and construct nests whose environments are controlled. The temperature, humidity, and other conditions inside the nests may be more favourable than the outdoor environment for the termitophiles while potentially also making use of the food resources within the nest, including the fungi grown by the colony or the eggs or larvae being reared.

Termitophilous insects avoid the defenses of the termite colony through one or more of a number of adaptations including having a rounded and smooth body, having bristles (often yellow) on their body surface, masking their odor to avoid detection, exuding chemicals from their body that the termites find pleasing, or by appearing like inanimate objects or mimicking termites.^[2]