News: Timid termites sneak to survive

The sleeping Coptotermes snored louder than he chewed. Illustrated by Mike McRae

Next time you’re taking a walk through the bush, stop and listen. It might sound peaceful, but don’t let that fool you. There’s a war going on in those trees. And it’s not pretty.
In a battle for resources, the species getting the most with the least effort will usually succeed while its competitors will struggle to keep up.
At first glance, the drywood termite Cryptotermes secundus seems rather underprepared for battle. Its colonies number little more than about 200 individuals and have no more than one or two soldier termites for protection. Even then, they can do little more than block tunnels with their massive heads while the workers flee from an attack.
These puny termites are no match for Coptotermes acinaciformis. They can have colonies of millions with soldiers that can shred the strongest Crytpotermes with a single chomp of their mandibles. In a fight, there’s no doubt who would win. Fortunately, survival isn’t always about who is the strongest, fastest, or biggest. In this war, being sneaky can be enough to save your skin.
Entomologists at CSIRO and the University of New South Wales have discovered that the Cryptotermes termite has an ear for the chewing sounds made by its competitors. When the researchers played recordings of Coptotermes feasting on some splinters, their weaker relatives looked to a quieter block of wood. Faced with such powerful competition, the drywood termite has learned to forage as much food as it can while still keeping a healthy distance from its enemy’s jaws.
For Australians, the drywood termite is less of a problem than the fearless Coptotermes. However, this research could eventually lead to methods for pest control that don’t rely on spraying nasty chemicals. Perhaps it only takes the right tune to send the big ones packing as well?
We often hear the term ‘survival of the fittest’ to describe how natural selection works. In a competition for survival, fitness is simply about finding the best way to get lunch into your belly while avoiding being lunch in somebody else’s.