Some older/less efficient worker termites will develop 'backpacks' of toxic chemicals that explode when the termite is threatened. They are essentially used as suicide bombers when the colony is being attacked.
Exploding Termites: Nature's Suicide Bombers
Deep in the rainforests of French Guiana lives a termite with a final mission: blow itself up to save the colony. Neocapritermes taracua worker termites spend their golden years accumulating explosive chemicals in specialized glands on their backs, transforming into living weapons ready to detonate at a moment's notice.
It sounds like science fiction, but this bizarre defense mechanism—called autothysis—is very real, and scientists recently figured out exactly how it works.
The Blue Backpack of Doom
Young termite workers are busy maintaining the colony, foraging for food, and caring for larvae. But as they age and their physical abilities decline, something remarkable happens: they start storing a copper-containing blue enzyme called laccase BP76 in two specialized pouches on their backs.
Think of it as a retirement plan, except instead of a pension, they get a backpack full of poison. The older they get, the larger these chemical reserves become, ensuring their final sacrifice packs maximum punch.
When invaders threaten the colony—typically ants or rival termites—these elderly workers rush to the front lines and deliberately rupture their own bodies. The blue enzyme from their backpacks instantly mixes with hydroquinone precursors from other glands, triggering a chemical reaction that produces toxic benzoquinones.
A Sticky, Poisonous Mess
The result? A gooey, toxic glue that immobilizes or outright kills attackers. The kamikaze termite dies in the explosion, but the defensive payoff is enormous—studies show older workers neutralize over 90% of their attackers through this method.
It's brutal efficiency: workers who can no longer contribute through labor contribute through sacrifice instead.
The 2024 Breakthrough
For years, scientists knew that exploding termites existed, but not exactly how they pulled it off. Why didn't the toxic chemicals break down before they were needed? How did termites store such volatile substances safely?
In August 2024, researchers from IOCB Prague published a breakthrough study in the journal Structure. Using X-ray crystallography, Dr. Jana Škerlová and her team solved the mystery by creating the first high-resolution map of the laccase BP76 enzyme.
They discovered the enzyme is incredibly stable thanks to two key features:
- It's tightly folded into a compact, resistant shape
- Sugar molecules coat the outside like a protective shield
- This dual defense prevents degradation, allowing the enzyme to remain potent for the termite's entire life
The crystal structure revealed why these "explosive backpacks" don't accidentally detonate—the enzyme stays inert until physically mixed with the secondary chemical component during rupture.
Altruism at the Molecular Level
This two-component chemical weapon represents one of nature's most sophisticated examples of evolutionary altruism. The termites aren't acting out of conscious heroism—they're genetically programmed for self-sacrifice that benefits their closely related colony mates.
Since worker termites are sterile and share significant genetic material with the queen's offspring, protecting the colony is effectively protecting their own genes. Evolution favored individuals willing to explode themselves because those genes survived in their siblings.
Other social insects like honeybees also practice suicidal defense (bees die after stinging), but the termite's chemical backpack system is particularly elaborate. It's a reminder that nature's solutions to survival challenges can be stranger—and more explosive—than anything we'd design ourselves.