Termites are not filial. They sacrifice their elders in wars with ants
Old female soldier termites were most likely to become cannon fodder in the defence of the nest, study finds
When termites go to war, the oldest soldiers fight on the front lines, being closer to death anyway, a study revealed on Wednesday.
In life-or-death battles with ants that invade their nests and eat their friends, termite fighters have adopted a military strategy very unlike that of humans, researchers wrote in the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters.
In lab experiments, “old soldiers went to the front line and blocked the nest opening against approaching predatory ants more often than young soldiers,” the Japan-based team reported.
Old female soldiers were even more likely than males to become cannon fodder, the study reported.
“We also found that young soldiers were more biased toward choosing central nest defence as royal guards” – a much less risky deployment than defending the nest entrance.