What Kind Of Beetle Eats Termites?
Some sorts of rove beetles eat termites. They live in tropical areas and live on a diet of termites and ants. They are different from all other rove beetles in this respect as other species eat decaying matter, carrion and dung. Species that eat ants tend to live alongside ants in their nests, eating the eggs and nymphs of their hosts. Rove beetles that eat termites and ants belong to the genus Zyras. They hunt for termites by searching the outside of a termite mound, looking for the entrance holes of tunnels. When it has found a way in it starts its campaign of chemical attack and pushes its long abdomen inside the mound. It then rather disgustingly discharges noxious and smelly gases and chemicals which have a hypnotising effect on the worker termites inside. They follow the rove beetle out of the nest in a meek line, allowing the rove beetle to then decapitate them with its powerful mandibles and eat up the lot.
