Figures 14.10
Figures 14.10. Defense by mandible snapping in termite soldiers.
(a) Head of a symmetric snapping soldier of Termes in which the long thin mandibles are pressed hard together (1) and thus bent inwards (2) before they slide violently across one another (3). (b) Head of an asymmetric snapping soldier of Homallotermes in which force is generated in the flexible left mandible by being pushed against the right one (1) until the right mandible slips under the left one to strike a violent blow (2). (After Deligne et al. 1981)
