14, see text The Macrotermitinae, the fungus-growing termites, constitute a subfamily of the family Termitidae that is only found within the Old World tropics.

This subfamily consists of 12 genera and about 350 species and are distinguished by the fact that they cultivate fungi inside their nests to feed the members of the colony.

A mature Macrotermitinae colony consists of a royal pair, sterile caste, winged reproductive called "alates" and young ones.

The Macrotermitinae subfamily has a widespread distribution through the tropics of Africa, the Middle East, and southern and southeastern Asia, but it is not present in Australia or the New World.

The worker termites bring plant material such as dried grass, decaying wood and leaf litter, back to the mound.

The termites cultivate these fungus gardens, adding more substrate as required, and removing the older parts of the comb for consumption by all members of the colony.

[2] Macrotermitinae like most eusocial insects primarily reproduce through a mass-swarming event known as a nuptial flight, of which the releasing of mature winged sexuals (alates) is coordinated with neighboring colonies and triggered by seasonal rainfalls.

Shortly after a nuptial flight, the alates quickly remove their wings and set off to form pairs consisting of the male (king) and female (queen) individuals respectively.

The spores after having survived the passage through the gut of their termite host begin to germinate into homokaryonic hyphae which rapidly colonize the new fungus comb.

Due to this method of sexual reproduction, a mixed culture of many different genotypes exist within the fungus gardens of young Macrotermitinae colonies.

A monoculture likely arises in a colony through positive-frequency dependent selection, in which a genotype outcompetes others via preference by the termites for the most vigorously productive and prolific strain.

The fungus genotype that exhibits the highest production of mycotêtes is generally preferred by the termites, resulting in the high expression of that strain which over time leads to the emergence of a monoculture in the colony.