This type of species-specific response allows the colony to deal with a threat without overreacting and leaving other areas of the nest unprotected. This behavior allows the termites to forage further from the nest and also keep vital foraging tubes open longer in the face of attack by ants. The primary predators of termites are ants. Ants both raid the termite nests for food and compete with termites for resources. This situation has lead to many termite defense behaviors being aimed specifically at dealing with ant aggression.
Termites also have a variety of physiological defenses at their disposal.
The soldiers of one species have evolved blunt heads which they use to plug access holes to the nest. Another species' soldiers have a nozzle shaped head which can spray a sticky fluid which incapacitates the threat. Some of these physiological adaptations are aimed not at predatory threats, but natural disasters such as flooding. It was discovered that, when faced with a flood situation, the termites do not even attempt to escape. They simply enter a quiescent state until the water is absorbed into the ground.