Harvesters from India - Anacanthotermes macrocephalus

[ItalianTermiteMan]

Here we have some workers and a soldier of Anacanthotermes macrocephalus pictured in a desertic zone of north-eastern India by Dr. Jan Sobotnik of the Termite Research Team.

Similarly to their whole genus (and also their whole family, Hodotermitidae), these phylogenetically basal termites are specialized in harvesting dead grasses and other vegetal matter/detritus in the open and all castes possess fully developed eyes, plus a thicker exoskeleton than most other termites that reduces the danger of dehydratation while open-foraging in their dry habitats.
Their toothed-jawed soldiers are robust and agile, but don't actually accompany their workers during open-foraging activity, limiting themselves to protect the area in the immediate vicinity of the exit holes (plus of course the nest and the underground tunnels). This "light" partecipation of soldiers in open-foraging is a characteristic of Hodotermitidae and stand in stark contrast to what happens in other open-foraging termites (with the obvious exception of species that don't have soldiers at all).

Picture shared with permission.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Here we have some workers and a soldier of Anacanthotermes macrocephalus pictured in a desertic zone of north-eastern India by Dr. Jan Sobotnik of the Termite Research Team.

Similarly to their whole genus (and also their whole family, Hodotermitidae), these phylogenetically basal termites are specialized in harvesting dead grasses and other vegetal matter/detritus in the open and all castes possess fully developed eyes, plus a thicker exoskeleton than most other termites that reduces the danger of dehydratation while open-foraging in their dry habitats.
Their toothed-jawed soldiers are robust and agile, but don't actually accompany their workers during open-foraging activity, limiting themselves to protect the area in the immediate vicinity of the exit holes (plus of course the nest and the underground tunnels). This "light" partecipation of soldiers in open-foraging is a characteristic of Hodotermitidae and stand in stark contrast to what happens in other open-foraging termites (with the obvious exception of species that don't have soldiers at all).

Picture shared with permission.


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You’re saying there’s termites species with no soldiers? How do they defend against ants and stuff ?

 

[SpookySpooder]

You’re saying there’s termites with no soldiers? How do they defend against ants and stuff ?

Reread it.

 

[ItalianTermiteMan]

You’re saying there’s termites species with no soldiers? How do they defend against ants and stuff ?

Yes: though they are a small minority as a whole, there are several genera of termites who lost soldiers with evolution (most of them are in the Apicotermitinae subfamily, three in the Termitinae). Their active defensive strategies varies with the species, from biting aggresively and self-rupturing their bodies to splatter attackers sticky and/or toxic fluids to sporting extremely flexible abdomens capable accurately excrete droplets of (possibly poisonous) feces an an ant's face!

Despite lacking a specialized defensìve caste, these soldierless termites are actually surprisingly abundant and successful in habitat like the south American and Central African forests, and at least one (Anoplotermes fumosus) is found in the US aswell.