Entombment, or the production of graveyards for the disposal of dead bodies, is not only a practice of human societies but is also observed in nature, including among small invertebrates such as termites. While the influence of termites on soil dynamics has largely been studied in comparing the specific properties of their mounds and protective sheeting with those of the surrounding soil, the properties of their graveyards have never been described before. Using incipient colonies of Macrotermes natalensis reared in a controlled environment, we showed that graveyard sheeting was characterized by a much higher C content in comparison with the reference soil and protective sheeting (4.7-fold increase). As a consequence, a slight increase in the C:N ratio was measured from 8 in the reference soil to 10 in graveyard sheeting. No changes in soil particle size fractions were measured. However, lower Fe and Al contents were measured in sheeting, and micrographs obtained from scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of calcium carbonate, or calcium oxalate crystals, in sheeting, as well as the presence of organic substances and salt crystals covering termite corpses, most likely for controlling the spread of pathogens. The presence of calcium carbonates and/or calcium oxalate was explained by the very high Ca content within termite bodies. Therefore, this study shows that termite graveyards are likely to constitute unexplored patches of nutrients in soil.

埋葬，或为处理尸体而建造墓地，不仅是人类社会的一种做法，而且在自然界中也可以观察到，包括在白蚁等小型无脊椎动物中。虽然白蚁对土壤动力学的影响在很大程度上已通过比较它们的土墩和保护膜与周围土壤的具体特性进行了研究，但它们墓地的特性以前从未被描述过。使用Macrotermes natalensis的早期菌落在受控环境中饲养，我们发现与参考土壤和保护膜相比，墓地膜的特征在于 C 含量高得多（增加 4.7 倍）。因此，C:N 比略有增加，从参考土壤中的 8 到墓地覆盖物中的 10。没有测量到土壤颗粒大小分数的变化。然而，在薄片中测量到较低的 Fe 和 Al 含量，并且从扫描电子显微镜获得的显微照片显示薄片中存在碳酸钙或草酸钙晶体，以及覆盖白蚁尸体的有机物质和盐晶体的存在，大多数可能是为了控制病原体的传播。碳酸钙和/或草酸钙的存在可以通过白蚁体内非常高的钙含量来解释。