Giant northern termite
The giant northern termite is a very old kind of termite from northern Australia. At first glance it looks like the back of a cockroach stuck onto the front of a termite. It is the last living member of its whole family.
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Fun facts
It is the most old-fashioned termite alive today, and its closest relatives are cockroaches.
Like a cockroach, it lays its eggs in little packets instead of one by one.
The winged ones are about 3.5 centimetres long, with wings about 5 centimetres across.
Soldiers warn the others of danger with smells and by shaking their bodies.
With plenty of water and wood, a colony can grow to millions of termites.
Most asked questions about Giant northern termite
?Does the giant northern termite build mounds?
No. It lives in hidden tunnels under the ground and inside rotting wood.
?What does the giant northern termite eat?
Wood and almost anything that was once alive, even leather.
?Is the giant northern termite dangerous?
Not to people, but it can destroy wooden buildings and crops.
Myth buster
Myth: The giant northern termite builds big termite mounds.
Truth: No. Its nests are hidden underground and in rotting wood, so you cannot see them.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Mastotermes darwiniensis
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Mastotermitidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Mastotermitidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Darwin termite
Where the facts come from
- Mastotermes darwiniensis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by division, CSIRO. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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