99-million-year-old termite-loving thieves caught in Burmese amber

Recently, a research group led by Dr. Cai Chengyang and Prof. Huang Diin of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and paleontology (NIGPAS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported on the oldest horseshoe crab-like obligate termite-loving wandering beetles from the middle Cretaceous Burmese amber. These fossils represent the oldest known termitophiles, who are able to hack into a termite nest and use their controlled physical conditions to steal the abundant resources (such as mushrooms) inside it. The discovery shows that ancient termite mounds were quickly invaded by beetles about 99 million years ago.