The Termite And The Elephant
A termite colony might live for decades, but in this story what’s important is what happens to the mound when the colony dies.
Dozens of species benefit from abandoned termite mounds as new homes, either for protection or nurture, but nothing is more remarkable than the extraordinary relationship between termites and elephants. A relationship of provision and dependency that has flourished for millennia.
Elephants love termites’ remaining patches of clay which are rich in salts and nutrients. When it rains, the clay turns into a sticky mud which elephants come to wallow in, because, besides keeping them cool, this clay protects their skin against sunburns and biting flies.
Each time a family of elephants visits this place, because of their heavy weight, they start to create a hole in the soil. With time the hole grows, and after a few years, it grows into an oasis for multiple species to call home.
Collaborators and Contributors:
David Sillam-Dussès, Edwin Rios
Year: 2022
Termite species R. Flavipes collected from a termite bank colony maintained under dark conditions at 30C.
Termite species R. Flavipes collected from a termite bank colony maintained under dark conditions at 26C.
Concept
Vibratory behaviours are widespread in social insects, but the produced vibrations remain poorly explored.
Communication using vibrations is an efficient way to transmit information in subterranean environments where visual and odorant signals are less efficient.
In termites, different vibratory behaviours are performed in different contexts like reproductive regulation and alarm signalling, but only few studies explored the structure of the produced vibrations (i.e., duration, number of pulses, amplitude).
This project analyzed several types of vibrations produced by a vibratory behaviour widespread in termites (body-shaking), which can be transmitted through the substrate and detected by other colony members.
Similarly, elephants use many sensory modes to gather information about their environment, including the detection of seismic, or ground-based, vibrations. Seismic information is known to include elephant generated signals, but also potentially encompasses biotic cues that are commonly referred to as ‘noise’.
The Termite And The Elephant is a journey into a fantastical and thought-provoking world. In this world, landscapes are crafted by the vibrational patterns of termites, morphing into an object that mirrors a record player. This installation hints at a future where nature serves as a musical analogy, painting a vision of life itself.
Particle system.
Terrain generated from termites vibrations.
Bodélé Depression diagram: As the wind sweeps between the Tibesti and the Ennedi Mountains in the Northern Chad, it is channeled across the depression. The dry bowl that forms the depression is marked by a series of ephemeral lakes, many of which were last filled during wetter periods of the Holocene.