Termite Facts and Information

You had probably heard a lot about termites in biology classes at school and, still, when people go through a first hand experience, they decide to refresh memory in order to be better equipped in their fight against these interesting, nonetheless harmful insects. You will find here exhaustive information on termites – their anatomical structure, colonies and social stratification, and damage some species of termites produce to American households.

1. Individual Termite Facts

Termites are six leg, about half an inch long, insects with yellowish or white, relatively transparent bodies. Just like the ant’s body, the body of a termite consists of three separate parts – head, thorax and abdomen. However, clearly seen are just two of them – head and abdomen. On their heads termites have one pair of straight antennae and no eyes. Worker and soldier insects do not have wings, which is a prerogative of mating queens and kings – female and male termites ready for copulation. Exoskeleton – the outer hard shell present on many insects like cockroaches and ants is very soft on termites which makes them a vulnerable insect. Termites are vulnerable to external mechanical damages, lack of water, food, chemicals and attacks of animals situated higher in the food chain.

Termites have very limited, underdeveloped senses. Having neither eyes nor smell organs, they are to rely on tactile sensation and social structure of the colony to study the environment or look for nutrition – cellulose rich plants/materials and water.

There are numerous classifications of termites but there are two major groups – subterranean and drywood. Dozens of species of termites can be found almost everywhere in the USA, except for Alaska, building millions of new nests (colonies) every year. Some of these species are economically significant, like Coptotermes, Mastotermes, Heterotermes etc. others present only zoological and ecological interest.

2. Termite Colony Structure Facts

Similar to many other highly sociable insects like ants and bees, termites live in big and well-organized, structured insect colonies. A colony, governed by an egg-laying queen, can have anywhere from 200 to 100,000,000 insects. However, colonies that would incorporate several hundred million termites are rare in the USA, where an average colony has about 500,000 insects. Size of a given colony is very much dependent on the age of the colony. Termite colonies can live with no problem for many generations of worker termites which can be as long as 50-70 years. Colonies are structured to survive even death of their queen, in which case another female termite ready for reproduction takes its place.

There are five major divisions (casts) of termites within a nest:

1. Queen and king - are responsible for reproduction, and lay anywhere from 1,000 to 30,000 eggs a day;

2. Alates - male and female flying termites with prolonged bodies that look like flying ants. These are termite colonies’ “founders” – future queens and kings. You can see them from early April till late October, especially in the evening and after rain;

3. Supplementary reproductive cast – termites that can develop into queens in case a queen is no longer active in the colony;

4. Workers – the insects we very often associate with our houses, responsible for finding and digesting food, and building the nest;

5. Soldiers – protect the colony from all kinds of dangers and other insects;

If you divide the gross weight of all termites living in the USA by the number of people, there will be at least 200 pounds of termites for every adult, teenager and infant!

3. Eating Facts

Termites feed on cellulose – a complex polymer consisting of glucose molecules (which is basically sugar) – that is found in plants and cellulose containing materials like lumber, cotton fibers, paper, furniture, plyboard, cardboard. Unfortunately, they don’t see the difference between a tree planted in your yard, your house or the furniture inside it, and devour anything that comes their way. The good thing is that subterranean termites (the 99% of termites found in the USA) cannot build their colonies in your house directly, but need to establish a nest first in the ground and then spread out.

Termites are like small cows because they cannot digest the cellulose themselves but rely on microorganisms living in their gut.

4. Economical Facts

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