Termite
hideMastotermitidae Kalotermitidae Termopsidae Hodotermitidae Rhinotermitidae Serritermitidae Termitidae
The termites are a group of social insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (but see also taxonomy below). As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites are major detrivores, particularly in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.
As eusocial insects, termites live in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. They are a prime example of decentralised, self-organised systems using swarm intelligence and use this cooperation to exploit food sources and environments that could not be available to any single insect acting alone. A typical colony contains nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both genders, sometimes containing several egg-laying queens.
Termites are sometimes called "white ants", though they are unrelated to true ants.
For more information about Termite, read the full article at
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News tagged with termites
Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Broadly speaking, ants have two different feeding strategies. A large proportion of all species are "carnivorous," meaning that they are generalist predators feeding on other small animals or scavenging on ...
Termite creates sustainable monoculture fungus-farming
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Food production of modern human societies is mostly based on large-scale monoculture crops, but it now appears that advanced insect societies have the same practice. Our societies took just ...
Termites? gut reactions show how to improve renewable fuel, researchers say
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Termite damage costs the U.S. more than $1 billion each year, but that same destructive power might help solve one of the nation’s most pressing economic quandaries: sustainable fuel production.
Giving cockroaches the slip (w/ Video)
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A breakthrough by scientists at Cambridge University may terminate the threat of termites, cockroaches and other pests such as ants and locusts - responsible for billions of pounds worth of ...
Termites travel with fungi as take-away food
Oct 08, 2009 |
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Fungi travelled to Madagascar in the intestines of termites. Fungus serves as a source of food and helps in cellulose conversion.
Homebound Termites Answer 150-Year-Old Evolution Question
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Staying at home may have given the very first termite youngsters the best opportunity to rule the colony when their parents were killed by their neighbors. This is according to new research ...
Critter control, au natural
Aug 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s surprising how much havoc the tiny termite can wreak. Each year infestations of these insects cause an estimated $30 billion in damage to buildings and crops nationwide. Historically, ...
Termites eavesdrop on competitors to survive
Aug 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The drywood termite, Cryptotermes secundus, eavesdrops on its more aggressive subterranean competitor, Coptotermes acinaciformis, to avoid contact with it, according to scientists from CSIRO ...
Diuscovery in amber reveals ancient biology of termites
May 14, 2009 |
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The analysis of a termite entombed for 100 million years in an ancient piece of amber has revealed the oldest example of "mutualism" ever discovered between an animal and microorganism, and also shows the ...
Avoid Inviting Termites to 'Dinner' at Your House
Mar 26, 2009 |
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It is the nightmare of many a homeowner: Termites merrily eating away at the family castle.
Birds do it, bees do it; termites don't, necessarily
Mar 26, 2009 |
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Scientists at North Carolina State University and three universities in Japan have shown for the first time that it is possible for certain female termite "primary queens" to reproduce both sexually and asexually ...
Upping the ant-e: Clever chimps boost termite catch
Mar 04, 2009 |
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Chimpanzees not only use a tool to snare termites but are able to modify it as well, a skill that requires conceptual and cultural skills, scientists said on Wednesday.
Did termites help Katrina destroy New Orleans floodwalls?
Biology /
Oct 14, 2008 |
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Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, people still speculate over causes of the destruction of the city's floodwall system. A new article in the fall issue of American Entomologist (Vol. 54, No. 3) sug ...
