Giant Lobster Cockroach vs Protermes Inquiline Termite

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Giant Lobster Cockroach Protermes Inquiline Termite
Scientific Name Henschoutedenia flexivitta Protermes prorepens
Order Blattodea Blattodea
Family Blaberidae Termitidae
Size 50-65 mm 2-4 mm
Habitat Forests Woodlands
Diet Fruit Feeders Fungus Feeders
Regions Central and West Africa East Africa, Southern Africa
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Giant Lobster Cockroach

A large African cockroach with a broad, flattened body. It has distinctive banded markings across its wings.

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Did You Know?

It gets its lobster name from its broad, flattened body shape and reddish-brown coloring.

Protermes Inquiline Termite

A small inquiline termite that lives within the mounds of larger fungus-growing termite species in Africa. Colonies are tiny and discrete, occupying small chambers within the walls of the host mound. Workers feed on fungal material.

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Did You Know?

Inquiline termites like this species are the cuckoos of the termite world, sneaking into other species' elaborate mounds to exploit their resources.