The Surprising Revelation About Their Reproductive Abilities. Have You Ever Seen a Termite Colony Made Up Entirely of Females?
Termites are ubiquitous. They can be found everywhere, from rural areas to cities, and you are probably quite familiar with them.
But based on your understanding of termites, have you ever heard of a colony that consists solely of female termites? In other words, is there not a single male termite in sight?
If your answer is yes, I assure you that you are… mistaken, because just recently, scientists discovered the first termite colonies that are entirely female.
These vast colonies are located in Japan. There are no males present, yet they continue to thrive and grow robustly.
A colossal termite colony. (Illustrative image).
In fact, most species on this planet reproduce through male and female interactions. However, there are some species that can reproduce asexually, which can be observed in certain species like sharks, lizards, snakes, amphibians (frogs), and a few types of fish.
Of course, the insect world also abounds with species capable of asexual reproduction. However, not all species possess this capability. For example, bees and ants have a queen solely for reproduction but still require males for assistance.
Termites are no different, or at least that’s what science believed. They have a queen responsible for producing the majority of the colony’s inhabitants. But they also have males—often referred to as kings. A termite colony typically has a balanced number of males and females.
However, when studying the species Glyptotermes nakajimai in Japan, researchers from the University of Sydney discovered that some of their colonies lacked male termites entirely. More precisely, after 1.5 years of studying over 74 termite colonies throughout Japan, they found that 60% were like this.
A termite colony without males – a first discovery in science.
Upon observing the reproductive process, researchers gained more insight into this phenomenon. Typically, when mating, the queen stores a large quantity of sperm from the male within her body. However, in the “male-less colonies,” this sperm storage is empty. They produce unfertilized eggs—meaning only female termites will hatch.
“This discovery indicates that the role of male termites in termite societies is not clearly defined,” quoted evolutionary biologist Nathan Lo from the University of Sydney.
In fact, even in colonies that do have males, unfertilized eggs appear and hatch with an extremely consistent frequency, suggesting that male-less colonies share a common origin. Additionally, such colonies often arise in isolated regions, like Shikoku Island or Kyushu.
Diving deeper into genetics, the research team discovered that the divergence between these two types of colonies actually occurred around… 14 million years ago. Lo stated that the transition between the two types of colonies allows termites to gain an advantage when adapting to a new environment.
The transition between two types of colonies allows termites to gain an advantage when adapting to a new environment.
“Under normal circumstances, the asexual reproduction group can reproduce twice as fast, as only females are needed,” Lo shared.
“This allows the termite colony to grow more quickly, helping them easily invade a new environment.”
However, these termite colonies have been separated for too long, and it seems they are gradually evolving into a new species. According to experts, the differences have manifested in their structure, with termites in male-less colonies having similarly sized heads and fewer warriors.
As of now, they are still the same species of termite. But according to Lo, this could change in the near future.
The research was published in the journal BMC Biology.
