Glue-Squirting Termite

Neocapritermes workers carry a unique defense mechanism: blue crystals stored in pouches that become increasingly toxic with age. When colony defense demands, elderly workers literally explode, rupturing their bodies to mix these crystals with gland secretions and spray the resulting toxic goo over attackers. The suicide attack—called autothysis—represents the final contribution of workers who have accumulated the most potent chemical payload.

The age-dependent toxicity creates elegant resource allocation. Young workers, capable of many future contributions, carry weak defenses. Old workers, approaching natural death anyway, carry devastating ones. When predators attack, the individuals who sacrifice themselves are those with least remaining value to the colony. The system converts workers' declining productivity into maximal defensive impact. Evolution has monetized senior workers' mortality.

The mechanism also reveals sophisticated chemical engineering. The crystals contain copper-binding proteins that remain inert until mixed with secretions. Only the rupture event activates the toxin. Workers carry live weapons that cannot accidentally discharge. This safety mechanism enables workers to function normally until the moment of sacrifice. The business parallel illuminates value extraction from declining resources. Organizations often struggle with employees approaching retirement—experienced but slowing, knowledgeable but expensive. Neocapritermes suggests reframing: long-tenure employees have accumulated organizational knowledge that, like toxic crystals, becomes most valuable in crisis moments. Companies that develop mechanisms for deploying institutional memory during challenges—mentorship programs, emergency response teams, strategic advisory roles—convert declining productivity into decisive capability.