Giant Northern Termite vs Andean Cloud Forest Ground Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Giant Northern Termite Andean Cloud Forest Ground Beetle
Scientific Name Mastotermes darwiniensis Notiobia nebrioides
Order Blattodea Coleoptera
Family Mastotermitidae Carabidae
Size 10-15mm 10-14 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Wood Feeders Predators
Regions Oceania Andes mountains (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Giant Northern Termite

The most primitive living termite and the only surviving member of its family. It retains many cockroach-like features including laying eggs in cockroach-like oothecae. It is extremely destructive to timber.

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Did You Know?

It is a living fossil, the most primitive termite alive, retaining cockroach-like features that link termites to their ancestors.

Andean Cloud Forest Ground Beetle

A medium-sized dark brown ground beetle found in the cloud forests of the Andes mountains. It is typical of the rich but poorly studied carabid fauna of Neotropical montane forests.

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Did You Know?

Andean cloud forests harbor enormous but largely unstudied diversity of ground beetles, with new species still being described every year from remote mountain valleys.