Little Drummer Bugs

South African termites can relay vibrational alarm signals through their enormous nests by pounding their heads against the ground.

Written byJef Akst

| 4 min read

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TERMITE TOWER: Vibrations reverberate throughout the complex architecture of termite nests, or “termitaria,” which can include spires that reach as high as 3 meters.CHRISTINE STRUCK

While studying termites (Macrotermes bellicosus) in Africa’s Ivory Coast in the late 1990s, animal behavior researcher Wolfgang Kirchner noticed something peculiar as he observed the insects’ colonial mound: “At first, I heard a noise which seemed to move across the surface,” he recalls. “I could really hear it because in that species, and in this place, there were lots of soldiers on the surface of the nest. Then I could see waves of drumming [propagating] across the surface.”

Unfortunately, Kirchner’s field research was interrupted by a military coup that overthrew Ivory Coast President Henri Konan Bédié in 1999. But now, more than 10 years later, he has identified a similar drumming behavior in two related species in the Southern African savanna, M. natalensis and an ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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