Syntermes dirus

Syntermes dirus is a species of termite native to Brazil which forage in the open for dead leaves, twigs etcetera. They build mounds up to 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) high which may require 4,000 years to complete.^{[citation needed]} One complex of mounds, termed a "megacity" covers 230,000 km² (89,000 sq mi), larger than the island of Great Britain, and is said to be visible from space.^{[citation needed]} Their activities have thus far involved the moving of 10 km³ (2.4 cu mi) of soil, enough to make four thousand stacks each the size of the Pyramid of Cheops.^[1][2] Of the nine most common species of termite in the Distrito Federal (Brasilia), Syntermes dirus is by far the largest, with soldiers averaging 117.3 micrograms (six times the weight of the second largest) and a length of 15.57 mm.^{[citation needed]} This species forages at night for grass, leaves, both green and recently fallen. These are eaten as is, there apparently being no fungus gardens.^{[citation needed]} In Brasilia the nests extend 1.5 m (5 ft) beneath the mound.^[3]

Syntermes dirus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Blattodea
Infraorder:	Isoptera
Family:	Termitidae
Genus:	Syntermes
Species:	S. dirus
Binomial name
Syntermes dirus (Burmeister, 1839)