Blackmound termite
The blackmound termite is a tiny insect that lives in a big family. Together the termites build black mounds, like little castles, up to 50 centimetres tall. They live only in one small corner of South Africa.
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Fun facts
The mound is built from white sand, but it turns black because of a kind of glue the termites make themselves.
The workers make the mound bigger from the inside. They poke little holes and push sand up from within.
Soldiers have big yellow or red heads that can ooze a sticky liquid that bothers other insects. They cannot feed themselves, so the workers feed them.
One mound can have many kings and queens, with up to 35 queens. A queen can be 1.5 centimetres long.
Aardvarks and lizards like to eat these termites.
Most asked questions about Blackmound termite
?Do blackmound termites bite people?
No. They are tiny and harmless to people. Their soldiers only fight other insects.
?How big is a blackmound termite mound?
It can be up to 50 centimetres tall and about as wide as it is tall.
?What do blackmound termites eat?
Rotting plant bits and soil full of old leaves, which they find underground.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Amitermes hastatus
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Termitidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Termitidae
- Lives on
- Africa
- Also known as
- Black mound termite
Where the facts come from
- Amitermes hastatus (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 Discott. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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