Name: The Termite Colony
Origin: Isoptera Order - 200,000,000 years old

Biography: Subterranean termites are ground-inhabiting, social insects that live in colonies of up to 200,000 individuals. The obvious simplicity of these 8mm long individuals is overcome by the decentralised, self organising hub of activity each colony represents. The Termite Queen, although an enormous entity in her own right, cannot claim control of this complex emergence of activity; the termite colony is a prime example of swarm intelligence in the insect world.

Queens can live up to 25 years of age and may lay up to 30,000 eggs a day! But without the worker termites the Queen would soon perish, drowning as if in a sea of her own genetic lineage. Termites generally live in termite mounds and revel in their propensity to consume vast amounts of wood, making them the scourge of many a subtropically located human dwelling. The Formosan subterranean termite, for example, is estimated to cost the residents of Hawaii around $100 million a year. The hugest of all termite mounds can reach over 6 metres in height making their superstructures one of the most prominent in the animal kingdom. Superorganisms are cool...

Huge Factor: 6 out of 10
Fear Factor: 3 out of 10
Notoriety: 5 out of 10
Special Powers: 5 out of 10

Final Score: 5 out of 10

Categories: Insects, Cool, Nature, Fun, Entity of the Week!