ItalianTermiteMan
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2023
- Messages
- 146
Here's a group of Microhodotermes viator harvester termites near the entrance of one of their exit holes. Note their marked polymorphism, with different sizes of workers and soldiers.
Like all their cousins from the small Hodotermitidae family, these termites are specialized open-foragers.
Though their nests and all its entrances are well-guarded by large and robust soldiers equipped with jagged mandibles, the latters don't accompany the workers in their excursions, remaining in and around their exit holes. M. viator feeds on dry bushes and grasses, and all its castes posses both fully functional eyes to see their surroundings and a particulary resistant exoskeleton to protect themselves from dehydratation while working (or guarding) under the African sun.
Pic by Felix Riegel (https://www.inaturalist.org/people/felix_riegel, attribute - non commercial licence); Cape Town, South Africa.
Like all their cousins from the small Hodotermitidae family, these termites are specialized open-foragers.
Though their nests and all its entrances are well-guarded by large and robust soldiers equipped with jagged mandibles, the latters don't accompany the workers in their excursions, remaining in and around their exit holes. M. viator feeds on dry bushes and grasses, and all its castes posses both fully functional eyes to see their surroundings and a particulary resistant exoskeleton to protect themselves from dehydratation while working (or guarding) under the African sun.
Pic by Felix Riegel (https://www.inaturalist.org/people/felix_riegel, attribute - non commercial licence); Cape Town, South Africa.
