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Imagine having a workforce of millions of individuals who dedicate every waking second to getting the job done! Who never complain, content to work always for the common good.
Termite colonies have exactly that! And that’s the reason why termites have been the ultimate survivors over at least 200 million years!
They arrived on the planet not long after the dinosaurs. And they’re still here, long after the dinosaurs became extinct.
The reason why is fascinating! While most other species ‘evolved’ physically, developing and adapting to the environment, termites went along another path. Their key was the intricacy of their society and its collective behavior.
As University of Toronto entomologist, Timothy Myles said:
‘The consequence of termite sociality is that you have millions of organisms that are like little independent robots, all co-operating in the pursuit of maximizing their collective fitness rather than the usual case of each individual looking out for its own fitness.
This gives termites awesome powers and ecological impacts which other insects do not have. Termites have extraordinary powers of foraging, feeding, reproduction and defense. Their huge integrated populations have the ability to challenge constructions of modern human
civilisation.’
Humans could learn a thing or two about collective effort from termites, however many of the sacrifices are too great for us to even contemplate.
Tradeoffs made by termites in the interests of more successful colonies include many of them giving up the ability to reproduce, or feed themselves, devoting their entire lives to the common good. |
