Let’s reproduce!

… is the motto for Termites when the conditions are right. Just after the first rains, when the humidity and temperature are just so, Termite colonies send out flying alates (or winged Termites) to reproduce and set up new colonies.

Termites live in cast societies where most of the members are non-reproductive (sex-less) workers or warriors. But from time to time the queen’s off-spring are born as large, winged males and females (future kings and queens). They swarm from their termite hill assisted by the workers and fly out to find a mate from another colony. When two such ‘termite lovers’ meet they loose their wings and become sexually active.

Then the females back body segment (termites have two segments) swells up into a large ‘egg-laying-machine’ and a new colony has its queen!

In this picture you can see three flying alates and hundreds of worker termites on a swarming day.

_ Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/300mm | ISO 100 | 1/750sec | f2.8 | ev-0.5 | 300mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 40% of original image_

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