Cryptocercus

…consists of a single genus, Cryptocercus, is the cockroach group most closely related to termites. The brown-hooded cockroach (C. punctulatus) digests wood with the aid of certain protozoans in its digestive tract. It develops very slowly, attaining maturity after six or seven years.

The Cryptocercus and Cephalotes ants, for example, make nests in hollow stems of plants, then bore a circular entrance that remains under constant surveillance by special guards whose heads are modified into pluglike structures that fit the entrance. Each guard is relieved after several hours and…