Why termites?

Many see termites as those annoying bugs that destroy homes and many have had problems or heard horror stories on the news of expensive extermination fees. While it is true that termites can be destructive, they can also be constructive.

Termites have been on Earth for ages, some say they've been for 250 million years! Termites are very interesting once you get to know them, one this page there will be interesting info on them.

Termites have complex social systems like ants, wasps and bees, in a termite intrusion (Name for a termite colony) there are the:

Royals
Termites have a king and a queen, and sometimes secondaries, airs to the throne.

The Queen:
The queen is the sole mother to all the termites in the colony (unless there are multiple active queens). Her one job is to lay eggs, which she does round the clock, her lifespan is around 20-40 years, in many species queens become physogastric, which means their abdomen swells to hold more eggs

The King:
The King's sole job is to mate with the queen, termite kings and queens pair up for life (unless one of them is killed)other than that the king doesn't do much.He lives the high-life.

Secondaries:
some termite species have secondaries, these are like airs to the throne, they are generally pale and don't look highly developed.while secondary royals may be related to their mothers and fathers, inbreeding depression rarely occurs because males and female in a colony are less than 50% biologically related.

The workforce


Termite intrusions also couldn't live without the workforce. these are infertile male and female workers and soldiers, however in some species they can become royals if needed, the workforce consists of:

Workers:
Workers can be monomorphic (all the same size) or dimorphic(2 sizes smaller-minor bigger-major) or though a few species have even 3 sizes of workers

they do all the work in the colony from foraging for food to nest repairs to broodrearing. A workers' lifespan can range from 3 months to 2 years depending on species. In dimorphic species the minors generally do caretaking tasks like broodrearing and nest repairs while majors do work like foraging.

Soldiers:
Soldiers can be monomorphic (all the same size) or dimorphic(2 sizes smaller-minor bigger-major). they are the intrusion's defense. Minor soldiers generally deal with smaller threats while majors deal with bigger threats due to the size of their jaws, in most termites soldiers are a fatal caste, once they become a soldier they can't become anything else. About 5% of a colony is made up of soldiers. when a founding intrusion (founding is the process after a nuptial flight where the king and queen raise their first workers) eggs first hatch a few of them will become soldiers.

Nymphs:
when a termite egg hatches it becomes a nymph, nymphs do not work and their career-path has not been decided they will molt and grow bigger until a point when they start to become their selected career-path. their career-path is decided by phermones which are based on how many if each caste their are in the intrusion (Caste just means the type of termite).

Alates:
When a certain period of the year is reached some nymphs will begin to transform into alates these are future kings and queens, they fly out and find mates, they then dig underground and lay eggs, more on colony founding will be discussed later. Alates have wings which they tear off when they land.

Diet
Most people just know termites for eating wood or by some grass. Most termites eat anything containing cellulose, which often includes: wood, grass, dead leaves and other plant matter, some temites also collect lichen, however most lower termites just eat wood (see: Higher vs lower termites )