This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American There’s an anime-style visual ...

Physogastric termite queen (top left) of Macrotermes michaelseni being groomed by workers and the larger king, with soldiers in the foreground. Photo by Jan Sobotnik. Termites are among the most ...

In one of nature’s strangest rituals, termite workers obsessively lick their queen not out of affection, but as a vital biological process that can ultimately lead to her death. This video unpacks the ...

A queen Oecophylla smaragdina ant Didier Descouens via Wikimedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 Small animals don’t usually grow very old. Since they’re always at risk of becoming another critter’s quick snack, ...

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Physogastric termite queen (top left) of Macrotermes michaelseni being groomed by workers and the larger king, with soldiers in the foreground. Photo by Jan Sobotnik. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert!

Odontotermes obesus is one of the termite species that grows fungi, called Termitomyces, in their mounds. Workers collect dead leaves, wood, and grass to stack them in underground fungus gardens ...

Thorne, Barbara. 1985. "Termite polygyny: the ecological dynamics of queen mutualism." In Experimental Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology: In Memoriam Karl von ...