Termites

Termites are tiny eusocial insects found all around the world, known for their love for chewing wood and their termite mounds—which are, incidentally, made from their own feces. Termites are related (quite distantly) to ants, and often called white ants. They are, like ants, divided into castes, including a queen and lots and LOTS of workers. Oh, and did we mention the soldiers? Yeah, there are a lot of them, too.

Not to be confused with Thermite, although handling either of them without care can lead to painful consequences.

Termines provide examples of the following tropes:

• Badass Army: Termite soldiers have extra-large heads for the sole purpose of blocking off passageways. They will fight off tons of ant attackers before falling, at which point another soldier will take their place.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: Termite mounds can grow up to thirty feet tall.
• First Installment Wins: People never seem to notice termites, always seeming to focus on ants.
  • Although wasps actually came before the latter.
• Heroic Sacrifice: If a breach is created in the termite mound, a phalanx of soldiers will rush out to hold off the attackers, while the workers repair the mound—locking the soldiers out and sealing their fate.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: There's a reason some call them 'white ants'.
• Hive Mind: Averted. Termites *do* serve a hive, but do not share a single mind.
• Hive Queen: Played with. Yes, there is a queen. No, she isn't a leader.
• Hive Caste System: Practically invented the trope. There are workers, soldiers, and the Hive Queen.
• I Am Legion: There are a ton of termites, and they all serve a single goal: preserving the hive.
• Meaningful Name: See Rule of Cool below.
  • Termites are also known as white ants. The reason for this is...
• Mooks: Termite workers are really pretty helpless.
• The Siege: Termites are masters of this trope. Ants would likely defeat them in open warfare, but they have to get inside first.
• Rule of Cool: Tar-baby termites will BLOW THEMSELVES UP into sticky goo to slow down attackers.
• Termite Trouble: Trope namer.
• Toilet Humor: Guess what those cool mounds are made out of?
• You Shall Not Pass: The jaws of termite soldiers are enlargened specifically to make use of this trope: Nothing can FIT through the narrow tunnels with a soldier in the way.