Cathedral termite
The cathedral termite is a tiny insect that builds a giant home. Together, a whole family piles up a tall mound of mud that looks like a church tower. Some of these towers are taller than a grown-up standing on another grown-up's shoulders.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its mounds can be more than 4.6 metres tall and stand out across the dry plains.
The mounds are made of mud, bits of plants, termite spit and termite poo, and they are super tough.
Air moves through the hollow columns of the mound like an air conditioner, so the family stays cool on very hot days.
Its soldiers have a long snout on their head that squirts sticky, smelly goo at enemies.
To hide from the sun, it builds little mud tunnels all the way to the grass it wants to eat.
Most asked questions about Cathedral termite
?How tall is a cathedral termite mound?
Some are more than 4.6 metres tall, much taller than a grown-up.
?What does the cathedral termite eat?
It eats spinifex grass, both living and dead.
?Does the cathedral termite bite?
It is not dangerous. Its soldiers defend the nest by squirting a sticky liquid from their snouts.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nasutitermes triodiae
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Termitidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Termitidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Spinifex termite
Where the facts come from
- Nasutitermes triodiae (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by brewbooks from near Seattle, USA. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Madagascar hissing cockroach
German cockroach
American cockroach
Oriental cockroach
Florida woods cockroach
Asian cockroach
Painted grasshopper
Mexican redleg tarantula
Egyptian giant camel spider
Grayling butterfly
Flightless dung beetle
Giant red velvet mite