Meet The Termite Family – They Can Quickly Wreck Your Property Without You Realising!
Just like to us humans, termites are undoubtedly sociable creatures – they watch each others backs! However, whilst a lot of us may moan about our teenage sons “eating us out of house and home” these little pests literally can achieve this.
You can find termites living in colonies in vast numbers anything from hundreds of thousands to many millions – all members of one massive family! They all work as a group in an unbelievably organised way to source and gather food in the form of cellulose (in many cases from the wooden structure of buildings) so that the colony to grow and expand. This fascinating team work is often referred to “swarm intelligence” and is the the reason why termites are so successful in their survival.
However, as you would find in any organisation termites appear to have ranks – sort of like the armed forces, certain termites specialize in certain tasks.
The biggest group and most likely the lowest ranking termites are the “workers.” These continuously search for food utilizing the tunnels they have constructed which lead from the colony nest, through the earth and into the wood which can easily be the frame of your house! They do this day and night as well as taking care of the queen, her young and the other termites. This is because that only the worker termites can digest the cellulose matter, so they have to regurgitate it back at the nest to feed the other termites.
You are extremely unlikely to catch any of these worker termites away from the underground tunnels and the nest. What do they look like? well, they are light in colour with a soft body and normally measure no more than 10 mm in length. It is often said they look almost like a grain of rice.
Soldier termites are next, these have longer heads and amazingly powerful jaws. As the name “soldier termite” would suggest these members of the family are charged with security. They will defend the nest from intruders, most often from ants who try to invade.
Next there are the termites responsible for breeding and the setting up of new colonies. Both males and females grow wings and flee their home colony in a massive swarm to begin the mating and breeding process somewhere new.
The Queen – the most important of the termites and the largest usually about 10cm in length and on her own she is immobile. To move the queen it requires many hundreds of termites to push her. This the the termite responsible for populating the colony, would you believe she will lay an egg every 15 seconds? Should she should die she is replaced speedily with another reproductive termite.
The chances of you actually seeing any of these termite troops in action in and about your property is extremely unlikely – unless you witness a swarm leaving the colony, even then it is difficult whether it is termites or not. However, signs of these pests will become obvious if they begin to attack the wooden structure of your home!
If you suspect a termite problem you must call in a professional quickly


