Foogle Business - The Termite - Termites - What is a Termite? - The Genus Isoptera - The Mighty Termite - The Wood Eater

A Termite is a tropical social insect, also called the white ant, though unrelated to the ants. Termite colonies consist of tunnels in wood or in earth mounds - termitaria. In each colony there are winged reproductive queens, workers, and soldiers. The Reproductives, or flying queens swarm and find new colonies; the workers construct tunnels, feed the colony, and care for the young; while the soldiers are concerned with defence. Termites eat cellulose and are very destructive when they invade wooden houses.

It is all this seemingly well organized structure that makes us think that the termite is a social creature; it is, in as far as it lives in large colonies or groups consisting of millions, having such a structured civilized life, not unlike our own.

There are seven family groups and approximately 3,000 types within this species of termites worldwide, coming under the order Isoptera. All termites are social insects and colonies are composed of a distinct social order which include, the Queen, workers, nymphs, soldiers, larvae, and flying-termites. The workers are usually the most plentiful at any given time of the year. They are the workers in its strictest sense, and responsible for most of the colony maintenance. They forage and feed all other members, they build and repair.

Kings and reproductive Queens are brownish in color, and have two pairs of wings that are equal in size, and shape, hence their Greek name. The wings extend well beyond the end of the abdomen. They shed their wings after their swarm and when they have found a suitable area to find a new colony.

Nymphs, are prelate forms which function as reproductive stock for the colony. The nymphs also labor along side the workers, doing similar jobs and are the second in number.

Larvae are the undifferentiated young of the Reproductives, and they usually represent the third largest in colony caste proportion

Soldiers are bigger and serve to protect the colony from invasion by other marauding insects and even large mammals. Their teardrop-shaped heads have large, forward-projecting mouthparts called mandibles, and they can represent between 1 to 20% of colony numbers depending on the type of nest construction and how safe it is against attack. A termite hill would have more, than say a colony that was in a deep tunnel in the ground.

Because the termite lives so far down, or deep inside decomposing wood, or in the termitaria, they are in constant darkness. They are basically blind, and have no eyes as such, and can only recognize light and shade. We might consider that, at one time they might have had complete eyes, as opposed to only the remnants of what used to be an eye.

Species of lizards have been found, that have been washed into underground chasms, and as it has been forced to live in complete darkness over many years, it has evolved to lose its eyesight and only have the impression where an eye has been. When compared to its cousin that was originally washed away, whilst it might now be blind, its other senses are far more enhanced.

Termites can be grouped into four general ecological varieties, which is based on what conditions they live in and the food they eat. The ecological groupings of termites are: dry wood, damp wood, harvester, and subterranean.

The Dry-Wood Termite is not reliant on the soil for moisture. They are usually found in posts, stumps, and of course wooden houses. Their source of water is derived metabolically, meaning, like a lot of animals, water is moisture found in the food that they eat. the food is usually wood and they will continue to burrow and eat you out of house and home, literally. But they are not the worst termite on Earth.

Damp-Wood Termites, are obviously the same and also do not require soil contact for moisture. They are found in dead, damp, and rotten logs or trees. Like most creature, termites are opportunists and live where they can, and adapt to the good and the bad. In time they will evolve to be best suited to any environment, and a new species is created.

It is said that even though the termite is numbered in the multi-billions, it is a good thing. they have been around for up to 200 million years and no doubt had a predecessor for a few million year prior to this.

During this time many billions of trees have lived and grown and died. The termite has been totally opportunistic and not only become reliant of the wood from the dead trees, but done us a great service.

It is said that had the termite been so great in number and needed so much dead and rotting wood to eat we could be up to 20 feet deep in rotting timber around the whole planet. this has obviously changed our environment for the better as it has given us more room to live.

Trees do rot away naturally, broken down by bacteria, but this can be a slow process. When the termite's ancestor came along it probably ate only very rotten soft wood as this was almost digested already. But as the numbers of termites grew it had to diversify and start to chew on wood that was fresher. At first, termites would not flourish on this, but those termites with a greater propensity to digest wood, no doubt aided by also eating the protozoa, survived, those that could not digest fresh wood died off. This is a classic example of evolution at work.

The Harvester Termite is a term used for termites that store up food, as opposed to those that eat by tunneling outwards. The Harvester also farms and reaps, in order to eat and feed to others, a unique fungus, that grows in termite chambers. This fungus grows on food that has been chewed by the termite and then put into cool storage. This event happened by accident, and obviously came from fungus-spores brought in from the outside. Nevertheless, very hungry termites ate this organic material, and thrived on it. Hence the symbiosis that has arisen.

Moreover, the discovery that the fungus has cultured an antibiotic producing bacterium, may provide new insight into the identification, production and use of new antibiotics.

The amount of food the Harvester stores is reported to vary from as little as one night's forage, to stores lasting up to two weeks.

The Subterranean Termites, must have contact with the damp soil in order to survive. This group of termites especially the Formosans, are by far the most destructive to human building works, and cost billions of dollars each year not just in damage repairs but also in the treatment protection of wood.

Once the subterranean colony is established, termites enter unprotected wooden structures, undetected, from underneath the soil. A large extent of damage is carried out, without the owner of the building knowing, until the building crumbles and falls. This infestation, from this type of the Isoptera insect, can mean financial ruin for many homeowners.

New Orleans, in Louisiana, is the world's center of Termite destruction, The people of New Orleans spent $300 million each year, killing, spraying and avoiding termites. This plague, it is said, is only 60 years old. before that this part of Louisiana was termite free. But after World War II, armaments and other war paraphernalia were shipped home from tropical areas and in the wooden crates, like some Trojan Horse, termites laid in wait to do their Jazz.

Termites can range in size from quite small to an unnerving 2 cms. King and Queen bodies range from 1 to 2 cms. Nymphs range up to 2 cms. Soldiers can be over 2 cms in length.

Like all insects, and unlike us, the termite has no skeleton. It is the outside of their body that holds them together, and also acts like protective armor; this is called the exoskeleton.

Again like all insects, the termite has four distinct growing stages, the egg, larva, pupa and the adult.

The Queen can lay up to 1,000 eggs each day, allowing for resting that is one each minute of every day for maybe 20 years. That is 7,000,000 eggs in a lifetime and if you consider that circa 5% might be flying reproductive Queens, it is no wonder that the termite is here to stay.

The eggs hatch and the larvae have to shed their skin five times before they pupate and then they become adults.

Termite Barrier

A termite barrier is simply a material that keeps termites from penetrating the foundations of your house or accessing other parts of your property, or getting near your property. The Termite now, and historically, is the most prolific and successful creature on the planet; sometimes only a substantial barrier will stem the tide. A termite barrier is not an insecticide, termiticide, or a chemical treatment.

Specially developed trenches, with the right bespoke mesh block termites from entering your home through the basement, footings, and or foundation to reduce the likelihood that they will reach your walls.

One kind of termite barrier is a thin mosquito-screen type mesh but it must be installed during construction. Wrap the flexible mesh around the lower bricks or slabs of your foundation. Or up against retaining walls and footings, both above and beneath the ground; the lower you go the better.

Such a screen is made of fibers that are indestructible to termite jaws, and the weave is too small to let a termite push through. This is not a guarantee against a termite offensive, but it drastically reduces the opportunity that subterranean termites require. It should stop, along with other on-goings measures you might take, the termite to walk in unhindered, to eat or nest in timber walls.

Another barrier is to take uniform rocks, slabs or bricks, and dig a trench around the boundaries of your construction. Build a solid walled defence; such barriers are invaluable against subterranean termites, as the wall interrupts their only route to your timber walls, through the soil. Termites radiate out from the colony, above ground or in tunnels, like the spokes of a wheel, they only stop when they find wood.

The physical Termite barrier was brought about in response to the dislike and outlawing of popular insecticide sprays. Barriers are environmentally friendlier and require very little maintenance. But they are most effective when installed before a house is built, so much more work is required to protect buildings.

By far the best way of controlling termites is prevention. Please be clear that there are quite simply, billions of them and they flourish relentlessly without any help or hindrance from humankind. They have always been here and they always will. When they first evolved on Earth, we were just tiny vole-like creatures. Whilst we may have moved up the evolutionary chain, they still are here and are just as successful.

Protect the wood on or in your property with chemicals, and or other means. Lay the wood onto a brick or concrete foundation. You maybe spending money in the short term but long term you might be sitting on a time-bomb.

However, if you know or think you have them already, it is best to seek some professional help. If you live in a wooded structure you must be aware of the problem so you should act not to determine if your property is protected.

In New Orleans, they are in constant battle, and it is a war that they will not win. But they do lay traps in the ground; traps filled with treated wood. The termites eat the wood and are recruited like Trojan Horses, carrying back the chemical poison, that can kill the nest if lucky.

The Termite - What is it?