A worker gingerly explores the gaping hole,
and a scouting party lays a scent trail for others to follow.
Activity increases.
An assault is on.
Other ants have found the termites' foraging tunnels
and scramble inside.
The tunnels are narrow and not at all like the open spaces driver ants prefer.
Termite soldiers with enormous jaws and heads prepare to check the incursion.
A soldier termite confronts the invaders with a threat display,
but it's not going to impress a driver ant.
The ants penetrate deep into the nest,
and the residents intensify their warning.
First blood is to the termites.
The tunnel guards are in danger of being overrun.
Deep in the bowels of the nest lives the termite queen.
If she is killed, the entire colony will die out.
She must be protected,
so termites start to isolate her from the fighting
by building a wall of mud mixed with saliva that will harden like concrete.
There's not much time.
The ants break through the first line of defence.
The queen termite security wall is almost complete.
She and the royal court are incarcerated but safe.
Another wave of ants advances unchallenged.
But the attack is not going to plan.
In the tunnels, the ants become embroiled in one-to-one duels.
The jaw-to-jaw combat is at stalemate.
Ants and termites seem locked in a lethal embrace.
The adversaries are well-matched.
The answer: pulling out.