Minor soldiers, major soldiers and major workers of Pseudacanthotermes spiniger, a fantastic fungus-growing termite that i pictured in southern Camerun last month.
The morphological differences between minor and major soldiers are impressive in this species, with the fast and agile minors being especially peculiar with their compact dark bodies, long legs and massive antennae, all in all almost looking and moving more like an ant than a termite; meanwhile majors have much bulkier, termite-like proportions and large abdome swollen with defensive fluid secerned directly after a bite as a wound-active toxin. Both soldier forms also sport a characteristic pronotum with two frontal spikes.
Edited by ItalianTermiteMan2.0, December 17 2023 - 6:25 PM.