Macrotermes carbonarius
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Macrotermes carbonarius, also known as Kongkiak in Malay, is a large black species of fungus-growing termite in the genus Macrotermes. It is one of the most conspicuous species of Macrotermes found in the Indomalayan tropics, forming large foraging trails in the open that can extend several metres in distance. M. carbonarius is a highly aggressive species with the soldiers possessing large curving mandibles that easily break skin. It is found in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Soldiers, workers, and imagoes of the species Macrotermes carbonarius are easily distinguished from other species in its range due to the almost jet-black coloration of the exoskeletons. Like other Macrotermes species, M. carbonarius has dimorphic worker and soldier castes, with the largest soldiers commonly reaching lengths of 16 mm.
The imagoes can closely resemble the imagoes of some species of Odontotermes. They can, however, be distinguished by the proportionally smaller eyes and overall larger size of M. carbonarius imagoes, which can attain a body length of 15 – 16 mm. The primary distinction is in the forewings as, unlike in Odontotermes where the median... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Macrotermes carbonarius sighting in Singapore on a given day, based on 144 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 175th most-seen of the 1045 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Macrotermes carbonarius in Singapore on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Macrotermes carbonarius sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Singapore, in our data
Singapore is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Macrotermes carbonarius sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Macrotermes carbonarius is recorded against all the insects logged in Singapore (144 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
