Termites Live Close To Their Enemies

Termites and ants are ferocious enemies. If a termite were to encounter an ant, or vice verse, they would most certainly go to battle right then and there. Termites and ants are just natural enemies, or maybe each insect is upset that the other gets all of the attention for being “social-insects”. In fact, these two insects have been enemies ever since the Miocene age. It is also impressive to know that termites are worthy warriors to the ants despite the termites’ blindness. Termites cannot see anything, and yet they still move about within millimeters of nearby ants and the ants never know. A recent study reveals how termites are able to avoid detection from their ant enemies, and it turns out that termites possess quite an advantage despite being blind.

Researchers from Australia have recently learned that termites can sense the presence of ants by the particular vibrations that result when ants take steps with their feet. For quite some time, many researchers simply assumed that termites avoid ants as a result of chemical signals, similar to many other insects, but that is not the case. Studies conducted in the field and in a lab show that termites will spy on their ant enemies by tracking their locations via vibrations.

According to one of the researchers, termites are one hundred times quieter than ants when moving around. When an ant moves around, it stomps its feet, so tracking their locations is not hard for another organism. But, when termites move around they seem to tiptoe around in complete silence. Termites, no matter the species, are almost always quieter than ants, but there is one type of ant that hunts on its own. This lone-hunter is very quiet when travelling, but it still would not be able to catch a termite.

Have you ever encountered a bug that made an audible sound when it crawled? If you have, then what type of insect was it?