Whale-Headed Termite Discovered Eight Meters Up in the Rainforest Canopy

Researchers in French Guiana describe a new termite species, Cryptotermes mobydicki, found eight meters up in the rainforest canopy. Its soldiers have an unusually long, forward-extending head that hides the jaws, giving a whale-like profile reminiscent of Moby-Dick. Genetic analysis links it to Caribbean populations (Colombia, Trinidad, Dominican Republic), suggesting an ancestral lineage across tropical America. The species lives in dead canopy wood and helps decompose it, posing no threat to human structures. The description was published in ZooKeys by Rudolf Scheffrahn and colleagues.