Lacteus Termite vs Acacia Thrips

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Lacteus Termite Acacia Thrips
Scientific Name Coptotermes lacteus Kladothrips waterhousei
Order Blattodea Thysanoptera
Family Rhinotermitidae Phlaeothripidae
Size 4-6 mm 1.5-2.5 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Wood Feeders Gall Makers
Regions Eastern Australia Oceania
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Lacteus Termite

An Australian mound-building termite that constructs distinctive dark, hard-walled mounds up to 2 meters tall. The mounds are a common sight in pastures and open woodland across eastern Australia. Workers are pale and soft-bodied with gut protozoa for cellulose digestion.

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Did You Know?

Their mounds are so durable that they persist for decades after the colony dies and are sometimes used as road-building material in rural Australia.

Acacia Thrips

An Australian gall-inducing thrips that creates enclosed galls on Acacia phyllodes. It exhibits a soldier caste that defends the gall.

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Did You Know?

This thrips has evolved a soldier caste with enlarged forelegs, making it one of the few eusocial insect lineages outside Hymenoptera.