ABSTRACT

The Order Isoptera, the most ancient society of animals, is unsurpassed among social insects in its regulation and maintenance of a highly organized and populous society. Termite colony populations exceed most other social insect colony populations. Morphological adaptations disallow soldiers from feeding without the aid of worker termites. Caste differentiation is probably a complex interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that involve such variables as light, temperature, food, pheromones, endocrines, and genome. In lower termites, the castes include the soldiers and the various reproductively competent kings and queens, which may be primary, secondary, or, in rare cases, tertiary. The soldier termite's function is to protect the nest and peripheral galleries from attack by ants and specialized vertebrate predators. Soldiers are the only truly altruistic individuals in the lower termite colony, since workers always maintain reproductive competence.