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May. 14, 2009 09:44 AM

Cellulose is the most abundant organic material on earth, and it is one of the most durable - we build houses, bridges, boats and even airplanes with wood. Unfortunately, various insects have evolved to use cellulose for food and survival. Many insects nest in wood, slip through it to lay their eggs, or tunnel into it to hibernate, but few actually eat wood. The reason: cellulose is very difficult to "break down" into a usable food.

All termites can break down cellulose, but many termite species simply "outsource" this job to a select group of protozoan, bacteria and other organisms that live in their gut. The termite pays a small price for this service - the microorganisms take some of the energy from the wood particles during the digestion process, but there is plenty of food-energy left for the termite. The protozoan and bacteria, in turn, depend on termites - they have outsourced their distribution to them. Young termites ingest the feces of older termites to get their "infusion" of microorganisms and start feeding.