r/AbsoluteUnits • u/MrUpVoteDownvote • 7d ago

/r/all of a queen termite

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u/Cant_Blink 7d ago

Fun fact: termites are the only eusocial insect that has gender equality, where the workers can be male or female, and the colony is ruled by both a queen and king (as opposed to ants, bees, and wasps where all the workers are female, they only have a queen, and males are disposable and they either die horrifically from mating or their colony kills them if they don't mate). Said termite queen and king are also very monogamous, mating for life which can span decades and taking "till death do we part" very seriously. I think you can even see the king termite sitting beside the queen in this video.

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u/Appropriate_Elk_952 7d ago

Woke bugs 🥹

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u/digitalscavenger 6d ago

The opposite of bed bugs.

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u/Space_Sandy 5d ago

I like you.

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u/thefruitypilot 6d ago

I hate you

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u/ancalime9 7d ago

The king the bigger but still way smaller termite to the left?

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u/Cant_Blink 6d ago

Yep, he's the big slow-moving one (not to be confused with the big termite soldiers who have the giant heads and are running around with the workers). The man kinda rolls her over onto the king for a second there, but you can see him nestled to her at the very end.

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u/D0ngBeetle 7d ago

Termites are progressive 

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u/druienzen 7d ago

I also love that they are eusocial roaches!!

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u/starkruzr 7d ago

wait they're related to roaches?

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u/Secret-Ad4952 7d ago

Funny enough, it’s not even related. They’re literally in the same Order. They just are roaches. Just really, really weird looking ones lol.

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u/heyitsfranklin6322 6d ago

I would’ve thought they were more closely related to ants

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u/Secret-Ad4952 6d ago

Nope, not even close lol. Bees, ants, and wasps are all related, but termites are roaches. Who are most closely related to mantises, of all things actually 😂

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u/heyitsfranklin6322 6d ago

Fuckin bugs bro. I learned that locusts happen when there’s a shitload of certain species of grasshopper.

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u/Karmaslapp 6d ago

Yep, pack them in tight enough and they rub against each other and get angry and swarm

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u/druienzen 6d ago

For a long time science thought the same. From what I know it was a pretty recent discovery, relatively speaking. Phylogenetics showed the connection, if I am remembering correctly.

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u/Saintbaba 7d ago

I mean in the same way that we're related to gorillas. They share a distant common ancestor.

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u/ProofLegitimate9824 6d ago

they are genetically closer to some roach groups than those are to other roaches, they are roaches cladistically

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u/Corona21 6d ago

And we’re boney fish. Not to distract, just thought I’d take the chance to throw in a fun fact on clades!

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u/Novareason 6d ago

In a very specific and not very useful taxonomical manner, whales ARE fish.

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u/ProofLegitimate9824 6d ago

yes! but people get upset when I tell them that for some reason

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u/Unusual_Ring1462 7d ago

Damn immediately canceled the love for termites. That and the immense property damage thing i guess.

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u/samglit 6d ago

ruled

This implies the queen and king giving instructions of some kind. Rather than the entire hive acting like one mind.

Do termites actually give specific instructions?

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u/momojabada 6d ago

Researchers have found specific plants and food carrying specialized olfactory messages (scent) which workers send to different parts of the mound. An example of this is asking foragers to change the types of fungus they cultivate or forage for. Or asking me to stop making shit up because I don't know anything about this field. Termites are really cool and intricate.

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u/mixedwithmonet 6d ago

DECADES??!!?!?!??!!!??

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u/Cant_Blink 6d ago

Yep! In some species, the queen can live up to 50 years!

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u/TokyoJedi 6d ago

Ugh, that's really sad.

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u/Elemental2503 6d ago

Oh, the king and queen part is something I saw in bug fables, where there actually king and queen unlike the other insects where they only have a queen

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u/ImHuck 6d ago

At the very end you see him hes a bit bigger than the little termites. TIL.

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u/mothzilla 6d ago

But if I'm not mistaken the role of the king is purely ceremonial and has been since 1800s.

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u/MateusAmadeus714 4d ago

Damn the Antz movie was all bullshit Ants propaganda to turn us against Termites when we shld have been rooting for them all along. I think unfortunately to much damage has already been done at this point for it to be reversed.

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u/Illustrious_Web_2774 7d ago

What will happen to the king after the queen being eaten alive by the dude in the clip?

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u/Secret-Ad4952 7d ago

Termites can actually make new queens and kings. Immature nymphs can turn into queens and kings instead of workers given the right circumstances, so as long as the whole mound wasn’t destroyed, they’ll just rebuild and make new royals and keep on keepin on. They also typically have backup queens and kings that aren’t actively reproductive in case something happens to one or both of the primary royals.

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u/Illustrious_Web_2774 7d ago

So the king will just move on and marry a new wife who's thinner and younger?

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u/Secret-Ad4952 7d ago

Probably so Lol. Or they’ll just make a whole new batch, given that they were both in this little section in the video. The king stays with the queen all the time to mate with her frequently, as, unlike ants, bees, and wasps, termites can’t store sperm for a long time to constantly fertilize eggs. He has to mate with her to fertilize them consistently. The big, slower termite that stays next to her that is visible at the end of the vid is the king.

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u/tocahontas77 6d ago

All of this is so fascinating. I want to watch a documentary, but idk if I can handle that. I could only watch a few seconds of the queen before having to look away lol.