Beastliness

S 27:82 And when the speech fell against them, we brought out for them a beast from the Earth speaking to them: People were not certain of our verses.

The Beast from the Earth

S 34:14 Then when we had decided upon him death nothing indicated to them his death but the beast of the Earth eating his staff. But when he fell it became clear to the jinn that had they known the ghayb they would not have remained in the base torture.

Ibn Kathir's commentary says:

Allah tells us how Sulayman, peace be upon him, died and how Allah concealed his death from the Jinn who were subjugated to him to do hard labor. He remained leaning on his stick, which was his staff, as Ibn `Abbas may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and others said. He stayed like that for a long time, nearly a year. When a creature of the earth, which was a kind of worm, ate through the stick, it became weak and fell to the ground. Then it became apparent that he had died a long time before. Ibn Al Kathir commentary for verse 34.14

How do Allah's interpreters feel that they can to any degree identify this 'beast'? Does this interpretation (aradah; ard 'earth') go back to Allah's boss, or did someone just dream the explanation up?

Ibn Kathir in Arabic: The Noble Qur’an - Tafsir al-Tabari - Interpretation of Surat Saba - Verse 14

Noun

أَرَضَة • (ʔaraḍa) f

1. termite https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A9

أرَضَة

- white ant; termite

أرَضَة

- woodworm https://www.almaany.com/en/dict/ar-en/%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A9/