Aged Termites Are Despatched Into Battle to Die First

We are always amazed at the complex and wonderfully efficient social organization in the insect kingdom.

Who would not want to model a democracy on the model of ingenious ants who vote for their leaders by exchanging spits? And we could learn some farming tricks from termites.

But when the time comes for termites to lay down their plows and go to war, they may display the coldest social imperative of all.

Seniors are the first to die.

That’s true. While humans – and many other mammals – pride themselves on respecting the elderly, termites see old people in a different light.

Basically, ancient termites, both male and female, are used as cannon fodder.

According to a study published this month in the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters, the riskiest jobs in the termite society are assigned to the oldest members of the colony. This includes the war against ants and other termite colonies.

For the study, Japanese researchers built a false nest and jumped seven termites – two soldiers and five workers – onto the scene. Then they threw a marauding ant into the mix. In almost each of the experiments, the older soldier took a position at the colony gate while the older female soldiers gathered to attack the ant.

The younger the soldier, the closer they would be to the nest as the last line of defense against intruders.

“These results show that termite soldiers have an age-dependent distribution of tasks, whereby aging prompts soldiers to switch to more dangerous tasks,” the researchers found in the study.

And while it may seem like the cruellest reward for a life in public service, that cold, hard determination makes utterly logical one. The termite society, like many hive-minded societies, is strongly divided between the castes. Each member is born to serve a specific purpose and to ensure that the colony – and its precious queen – thrive.

Whether workers or soldiers, termites always close tightly around their precious queen.
Chaikom / Shutterstock

Termites are divided into workers, reproducers, and soldiers. The soldiers are sterile, so their contributions to termite society are limited to defending and claiming lawns from enemies. They’re actually built for battle – with oversized heads blocking entry points into the colony and gaping mandibles to impale daring invaders.

But what do you do with an old soldier – one whose once dreaded “lower jaw strike” is no longer quite as fast? It can not work. Can’t breed.

So let’s go to wage the eternal war with these accursed ants.

In this way, a colony gains the double benefit of getting rid of its weak and infirm while maximizing its contributions to the bitter end.

“This age-dependent assignment of soldier tasks increases the life expectancy of soldiers and enables them to promote their lifelong contribution to the reproductive success of colonies,” the researchers found.

Let’s not judge quickly. It is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the Old Fogy Brigade. Maybe they’ll give these ants a good stick. Maybe they are heroes. But we do know that there are no medals of valor for termites. No trumpets sound from the battlefield.

And for that sacrifice, old soldiers, we salute you.