Logically speaking, termites are a very widespread species.

In the world of the protagonist's previous life, termites were distributed on two-thirds of the land, most of which were concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions, and only Antarctica had not found traces of termite activity on all continents, and all other continents were distributed.

Moreover, termites play an important role in the ecosystem, no less than ants, accounting for 50-60% of the net primary production of terrestrial ecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions.

It is such a widely distributed species, which is extremely rare in this world. If the protagonist hadn't seen it with his own eyes today, he would have almost forgotten about this species.

Could it be that the ants of this world are too strong to beat the termites in the competition? It can't be said that termites eat very differently from ants, and there is no direct competition between the two.

Although termites have a wide range of diets, their nutrients mainly come from plants, with plant cellulose and its products as the staple food, as well as fungi and lignin. Occasional consumption of starches, sugars, proteins and other foods can also swallow termite carcasses in the same nest, old skin shed by larvae during development, and ant eggs and even larvae in the absence of external food, but it is not common.

Cellulose-rich plants make up the largest part of termites' diets, and many species feed not only on natural wood and dry plants, but also on cellulose-rich feces from sun-dried herbivores.

These cellulose ants don't eat it at all because they lack a symbiotic microorganism that can't digest and absorb cellulose.

Termites, on the other hand, contain a large number of single-celled organisms and bacteria in their guts, except for the termite family. These microorganisms have a symbiotic relationship with termites, and with the assistance of these microorganisms, termites can digest cellulose into substances that can be absorbed and utilized.

That is, termites are not a competitor to ants in terms of food sources, just as rabbits are not competitors to humans.

The fecundity of termites is not inferior to that of rabbits, and human civilization is far more developed than the ants of this world, but humans in the 21st century still can't eliminate the hares that plague Australia.

Except for a few ants such as marching ants, which prey on termites, most ants and termites should coexist peacefully.

So why are termites so rare?

The protagonist is a little confused, but at least for now, the termite colony looks good.

The protagonist flies around, and this small basin has only one entrance and exit, and the interior is full of termite territory, and no other ant species are in sight.

The size of the termite mound is huge, as large as a human hut, and tens of thousands of termites are visible to the naked eye, and it is estimated that the entire colony has six or seven figures of ant population.

The protagonist is curious and wonders if the termites in this world have evolved a civilization.

Among the true social animals, ants are civilized, although they are still very primitive; The wasp and the bee protagonist have come into contact and apparently have not evolved a civilization; Naked mole rats and other mammals do not probably exist in this world, like other mammals.

Only the termite protagonist is seen for the first time.

If termites had a civilization, then the world would be as lively as a swarm of lizardmen suddenly popping up in the human world - a civilization that is completely different from the ant civilization, genetically and physiologically.

The protagonist is not too worried, in this world, can there be a more group of termite civilizations, and the threat of destroyers is greater?

So, with great interest, he observed the termite colony from different angles.

After observing for a long time, the protagonist did not find direct evidence that termites were civilized, and countless termites just kept carrying dead branches and leaves from the vicinity to the nest, and there was almost no other sight.

A significant sign of ant civilization is that the male ant who originally only had the function of reproduction has become the leadership core of the group, and some ant races have female ants who take this responsibility, that is to say, the sign of ant civilization is the emergence of class power differentiation.

If such a commander can be found in the middle of the termite team, it can be roughly assumed that they are also civilized. But the protagonist doesn't know about the division of termite types, and he doesn't know if there are soldier ants and male ants in addition to these worker ants carved out of a mold, as well as the queen ant who will definitely have them.

In fact, the ant species within the termite colony are more complex than ants.

There are often two types of ants within a termite colony, namely reproductive and non-reproductive.

Reproductive termites are sexual females and males whose job is to maintain old colonies and create new ones. Similar to the queen ant (female ant) and male ant in ants, there are three main types:

1. Long-winged or winged: characterized by two pairs of developed wings, from April to June every year, especially in the hot and humid months after the spring and summer rains, a large number of long-winged breeding ants fly out of the nest and marry near the building not far from the nest, and a few of them are lucky enough to establish a new termite colony.

2. Short-winged type, also known as supplementary reproduction type. When termite colonies run out of food, some worker ants and a small number of soldier ants leave their nests in search of food and water. When the colony loses contact with the main nest completely, the colony can produce complementary queens and queens within the colony, and become an independent colony. In addition, when the original queen ant and queen die out, the short-winged ant queen and queen will also appear, continuing the reproduction of the entire termite colony.

3. Wingless type, wingless supplementary type ant queen and queen ant are rare, and only occasionally appear in a few primitive termite species, from larvae without wing buds or from worker ants.

Non-reproductive termites are termites that do not have the ability to reproduce. There are three categories: worker ants, soldier ants, and nyats:

1. Worker ants. Like the worker ants, termite worker ants are the most numerous in the colony, accounting for more than 80%, and also perform many complicated tasks in the nest, such as building ant mounds, collecting food, raising young ants, soldier ants and queens, cleaning and hygiene, etc. Among the non-soldier ant species, they are also responsible for defending against foreign enemies.

However, termite worker ants are divided into female and male sexes, and compound eyes disappear, sometimes only traces remain, which is different from ant worker ants.

2. Soldier ants. Termites, like some races of ants, have specific soldier ants, which specialize in defending the colony, accounting for about 5% of the total ant population, and a few races have no soldier ants.

The soldier ants of termites generally start from the 3-4 instar larvae, and some of the larvae differentiate into lighter ant-colored ant-soldiers, and then become soldier ants, both male and female. The head of the soldier ant is highly ossified, and the upper jaw is well developed, which can be divided into two categories: the upper jaw soldier and the elephant trunk soldier according to the shape of the upper jaw, and there are no compound eyes or only traces.

3. Ants. Nyphoric ants are the larvae of termites, but some termite races lack worker ants and are replaced by nyons.