Canal Building Termites

Canal building termites have mounds dotting the maw bottom. They have specialized methods to burrow into live trees, in particular building canals to channel hot springs into trees, and add on with their own superheating abilities (bombardier beetle style) and acid secretion. The superheated hot water breaks down the bark. Then workers with specialized mandibles go in to tear off pieces of the tree. Their efforts are one factor in trees falling over. They have a sophisticated social structure with multiple queens that breed for multiple types of termite. Intensely strong structures of cellulose reinforced with silicates. They operate on enormous timescales, a successful canal system can support a colony for hundreds of years. Because the canals require a supply of cellulose to construct, new projects need to be build even as old projects are bearing fruit, leading to a constant cycle of canal building and tree mining.