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quickly destroying their host. Its diet is varied, as it will eat introduced plants, damaged ivory and leather, and wood and debris, and in fact almost anything organic. It becomes a major agricultural pest, to the extent that vegetable farming has been virtually abandoned in
Northern Australia wherever this termite is numerous, which it is outside of the rain forest or bauxite soils. It has developed the ability to bore up into a living tree and ring bark it such that it dies and becomes the center of a colony.
46:
299:); wings that are considerably longer than their abdomen. Alates are approximately 35 mm long with a 50 mm wingspan. Soldiers are 11–13 mm long and workers are 10–11.5 mm long. The soldiers have an alarm defense system which warns nest-mates within the colony of potential dangers. Two ways they communicate these dangers is through pheromones secreted in its labial glands, and by creating vibrations through movements.
200:. It is the most primitive extant termite species. Contrary to common belief, this species does not form mounds as the nests are subterranean and inconspicuous. Colonies will readily occupy and infest decomposing wood but primarily live in a complex subterranean network of tunnels and galleries which they use to travel to new food sites. Colonies may eventually split and form isolated satellite colonies.
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is usually not very numerous, nor are the colonies large when left to natural conditions. However, when given abundant water (such as regular irrigation) and favourable food and soil conditions (such as stored timber or timber structures), populations can be enormous, numbering in the millions,
262:
stuck to a termite's fore part. Their wings have the same form as those of the roaches, and its eggs are laid in a case as are roach eggs. It is thought to have evolved from the same ancestors as the wood roaches
412:
Delattre, Olivier; Sillam-Dussès, David; Jandák, VojtÄ›ch; Brothánek, Marek; RĂĽcker, Karel; Bourguignon, Thomas; Vytisková, Blahoslava; CvaÄŤka, Josef; JiĹ™ĂÄŤek, OndĹ™ej; Ĺ obotnĂk, Jan (1 December 2015).
212:, the termites' closest relatives. These similarities include the anal lobe of the wing and the laying of eggs in bunches, rather than singly. It is the only living member of its
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Tilyard RJ (1937) Kansas
Permian insects. Part XX the cockroaches, or order Blattaria I, II Am. Journal of Science 34; 169–202, 249–276.
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Hill, G.F., (1942) Termites (Isoptera) from the
Australian Region. H.E. Daw, Govt. Printer, Melbourne, Austr.
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273:. Fossil wings have been discovered in the Permian of Kansas which have a close resemblance to wings of
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Brittan EB et al. (30 authors) (1970) The
Insects of Australia. Melbourne University Press. p. 285
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of the
Mastotermitidae, which is the most primitive living termite. This fossil is called
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Tree of Life Web
Project. 2003. Isoptera. Termites. Version 1 January 2003 (temporary).
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250:. Thus, the cockroaches, termites, and their relatives are nowadays placed in a
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Weesner, F. M. (January 1960). "Evolution and biology of the termites".
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283:. It folded its wings in a convex pattern between segments 1a and 2a.
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258:. These singular termites appear at first glance like a cockroach's
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Unlike cockroaches, only the reproductives have wings (see
414:"Complex alarm strategy in the most basal termite species"
239:, but such an indiscriminate treatment makes that group a
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are known. The termites were traditionally placed in the
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392:"Giant Northern Termite (Mastotermes darwiniensis)"
357:"Giant Northern Termite (Mastotermes darwiniensis)"
318:, remarkable for its multiple bacterial symbionts.
208:This species shows uncanny similarities to certain
312:is the only known host of the symbiotic protozoan
287:is the only living insect that does the same.
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370:http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Mastotermitidae
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338:http://tolweb.org/Isoptera/8212/2003.01.01
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553:10.1146/annurev.en.05.010160.001101
418:Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
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340:in The Tree of Life Web Project,
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488:. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
540:Annual Review of Entomology
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430:10.1007/s00265-015-2007-9
204:Evolutionary significance
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41:Scientific classification
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633:Mastotermes_darwiniensis
619:Mastotermes darwiniensis
589:Mastotermes darwiniensis
531:Mastotermes darwiniensis
519:Mastotermes darwiniensis
310:Mastotermes darwiniensis
303:Mastotermes darwiniensis
175:Mastotermes darwiniensis
160:Mastotermes darwiniensis
25:Mastotermes darwiniensis
372:Mastotermitidae picture
196:found only in northern
297:Life cycle of termites
183:giant northern termite
765:Insects of Australia
521:at Wikimedia Commons
482:; Wong, Yan (2016).
142:M. darwiniensis
485:The Ancestor's Tale
315:Mixotricha paradoxa
342:http://tolweb.org/
228:, though numerous
16:Species of termite
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732:Open Tree of Life
581:Taxon identifiers
561:"Mastotermitidae"
517:Media related to
424:(12): 1945–1955.
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266:Cryptocercus
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180:common names
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104:Infraorder:
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613:Wikispecies
547:: 153–170.
439:10467/81643
285:Mastotermes
275:Mastotermes
256:Dictyoptera
254:called the
218:Mastotermes
210:cockroaches
129:Mastotermes
754:Categories
566:1 December
322:References
248:neopterans
78:Arthropoda
448:1432-0762
269:) in the
243:grade of
198:Australia
136:Species:
98:Blattodea
64:Kingdom:
58:Eukaryota
760:Termites
711:10060997
598:Wikidata
221:and its
114:Family:
108:Isoptera
74:Phylum:
68:Animalia
54:Domain:
698:4802813
672:3836741
604:Q135349
397:17 July
291:Biology
271:Permian
260:abdomen
194:species
191:termite
189:, is a
124:Genus:
94:Order:
88:Insecta
84:Class:
737:362113
685:MASTDA
646:180007
492:
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230:fossil
223:family
724:13139
706:IRMNG
659:72V7M
252:clade
245:basal
214:genus
719:NCBI
693:GBIF
680:EPPO
641:BOLD
568:2007
490:ISBN
444:ISSN
399:2017
233:taxa
185:and
667:EoL
654:CoL
628:AFD
549:doi
434:hdl
426:doi
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348:^
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263:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
