Two termite soldier types evolved radically different defense weaponry

Evidence

Termites also show division of labor with specialized soldier castes, although these fighters are involved primarily in colony defense, rather than offense. Incisitermes soldiers have thick, muscle-filled heads with huge jaws. Nasutitermes soldiers have completely different adaptations; they squirt sticky filamentous threads at invading ants. The sticky strings tangle the legs of ants, incapacitating them. Nasute soldiers have no eyes or mouths. Their entire head is one giant, bulbous nozzle with a snout—a walking squirt gun. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 132

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Extreme weapons evolved independently across roughly three thousand species — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 15

Related

• Extreme weapons evolved independently across roughly three thousand species (similarity 0.81)
• Human armies and social insects solved the same weapon trade-off by role specialization (similarity 0.80)
• Fortified positions let termite soldiers defeat numerically superior army ants (similarity 0.79)
• Fortified architecture lets termites negate an enemy’s numerical superiority (similarity 0.78)
• Releasing soldiers from other tasks lets weapons evolve to extremes (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Extreme weapons evolved independently across roughly three thousand species #exemplifies (0.75) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 15