Termite

Control Visit www.termite.ph

Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until
recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order
Isoptera (see taxonomy below), but are now accepted as
the infraorder Isoptera, of the cockroach order Blattodea.
[1][2] While termites are commonly known, especially in
Australia, as white ants, they are for practical purposes
unrelated
to
the
ants.
Like ants, and some bees and waspswhich are all
placed in the separate order Hymenopteratermites
divide labor among castes, produce overlapping
generations and take care of young collectively. 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 3,106
taxonomically known) are economically significant as
pests that can cause serious structural damage to
buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites are major
detritivores, 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. Colonies use decentralised, self-organised

systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence which

exploit food sources and environments unavailable to
any single insect acting alone. A typical colony contains
nymphs (semimature young), workers, soldiers, and
reproductive individuals of both sexes, sometimes
containing several egg-laying queens.

Organization
Workers

Termite
Termite

Social
Control

Worker termites undertake the labors of foraging, food

storage, brood and nest maintenance, and some defense
duties in certain species. Workers are the main caste in
the colony for the digestion of cellulose in food and are
the most likely to be found in infested wood. This is

achieved in one of two ways. In all termite families,

except the Termitidae, flagellate protists in the gut assist
in cellulose digestion. However, in the Termitidae, which
account for approximately 60% of all termite species, the
flagellates have been lost and this digestive role is taken
up, in part, by a consortium of prokaryotic organisms.
This simple story, which has been in entomology
textbooks for decades, is complicated by the finding that
all studied termites can produce their own cellulase
enzymes, and therefore might digest wood in the
absence of their symbiotic microbes, although new
evidence suggests these gut microbes make use of
termite-produced cellulase enzymes. Our knowledge of
the relationships between the microbial and termite parts
of their digestion is still rudimentary. What is true in all
termite species, however, is the workers feed the other
members of the colony with substances derived from the
digestion of plant material, either from the mouth or anus.
This process of feeding of one colony member by
another is known as trophallaxis, and is one of the keys
to the success of the group. It frees the parents from
feeding all but the first generation of offspring, allowing
for the group to grow much larger and ensuring the
necessary gut symbionts are transferred from one

generation to another. Some termite species do not have

a true worker caste, instead relying on nymphs that
perform the same work without differentiating as a
separate caste.

Termite
Termite

Social
Control

Organization
Diet
Termites are generally grouped according to their nesting
and feeding habits. Thus, the commonly used general
groupings are subterranean, soil-dwelling, drywood,
dampwood, and grass-eating. Of these, subterraneans
and drywoods are primarily responsible for damage to
human-made structures.
All termites eat cellulose in its various forms as plant
fibre. Cellulose is a rich energy source (as demonstrated

by the amount of energy released when wood is burned),

but remains difficult to digest. Termites rely primarily
upon symbiotic protozoa (metamonads) such as
Trichonympha, and other microbes in their guts to digest
the cellulose for them and absorb the end products for
their own use. Gut protozoa, such as Trichonympha, in
turn, rely on symbiotic bacteria embedded on their
surfaces to produce some of the necessary digestive
enzymes. This relationship is one of the finest examples
of mutualism among animals. Most so-called higher
termites, especially in the family Termitidae, can produce
their own cellulase enzymes. However, they still retain a
rich gut fauna and primarily rely upon the bacteria. Owing
to closely related bacterial species, it is strongly
presumed that the termites gut flora are descended from
the gut flora of the ancestral wood-eating cockroaches,
like those of the genus Cryptocercus.
Some species of termite practice fungiculture. They
maintain a garden of specialized fungi of genus
Termitomyces, which are nourished by the excrement of
the insects. When the fungi are eaten, their spores pass
undamaged through the intestines of the termites to
complete the cycle by germinating in the fresh faecal

pellets.They are also well known for eating smaller

insects in a last resort environment.
A recent study by Australian scientists found that termites
have been found to accumulate trace amounts of gold in
their nests. According to the CSIRO, the termites burrow
beneath weathered surface material which typically
masks human attempts to find gold, and brings indicators
of deposits to the surface. They believe that studying
termite nests may lead to less invasive methods of
finding gold deposits.

Organization
Mounds

Termite
Termite

Social
Control

Mounds (also known as termitaria occur when an

aboveground nest grows beyond its initially concealing

surface. They are commonly called ant hills in Africa

and Australia, despite the technical incorrectness of that
name.
In tropical savannas, the mounds may be very large, with
an extreme of 9 m (29.5 ft) high in the case of large
conical mounds constructed by some Macrotermes
species in well-wooded areas in Africa. Two to three
metres, however, would be typical for the largest mounds
in most savannas. The shape ranges from somewhat
amorphous domes or cones usually covered in grass
and/or woody shrubs, to sculptured hard-earth mounds,
or a mixture of the two. Despite the irregular mound
shapes, the different species in an area can usually be
identified by simply looking at the mounds.
The sculptured mounds sometimes have elaborate and
distinctive forms, such as those of the compass termite
(Amitermes meridionalis and A. laurensis) which build
tall, wedge-shaped mounds with the long axis oriented
approximately northsouth, which gives them their
common name. This orientation has been experimentally
shown to assist thermoregulation. The thin end of the
nest faces towards the sun at its peak intensity, hence
taking up the least possible heat, and allows these

termites to stay above ground where other species are

forced to move into deeper below ground areas. This
also allows the compass termites to live in poorly drained
areas where other species would be caught between a
choice of baking or drowning. The column of hot air
rising in the aboveground mounds helps drive air
circulation currents inside the subterranean network. The
structure of these mounds can be quite complex. The
temperature control is essential for those species that
cultivate fungal gardens and even for those that do not;
much effort and energy is spent maintaining the brood
within a narrow temperature range, often only plus or
minus 1 Celsius over a day.
In some parts of the African savanna, a high density of
aboveground mounds dominates the landscape. For
instance, in some parts of the Busanga Plain area of
Zambia, small mounds of about 1 m diameter with a
density of about 100 per hectare can be seen on
grassland between larger tree- and bush-covered
mounds about 25 m in diameter with a density around 1
per hectare, and both show up well on high-resolution
satellite images taken in the wet season

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Timber Damage
Owing to their wood-eating habits, many termite species
can do great damage to unprotected buildings and other
wooden structures. Their habit of remaining concealed
often results in their presence being undetected until the
timbers are severely damaged and exhibit surface
changes. Once termites have entered a building, they do
not limit themselves to wood; they also damage paper,
cloth, carpets, and other cellulosic materials. Particles
taken from soft plastics, plaster, rubber, and sealants
such as silicone rubber and acrylics are often employed
in
construction.

Humans have moved many wood-eating species

between continents, but have also caused drastic
population decline in others through habitat loss and
pesticide
application.
Termites are commonly viewed as pests in many
countries, because of the damage they can cause to
structures and similar nuisances. In April 2011, woodeating termites were blamed for reportedly consuming
more than $220,000 worth of Indian rupee notes.
Precautions:
Avoid contact of susceptible timber with the ground by
using termite-resistant concrete, steel, or masonry
foundations with appropriate barriers. Even so, termites
are able to bridge these with shelter tubes, and it has
been known for termites to chew through piping made of
soft plastics and even some metals, such as lead, to
exploit moisture. In general, new buildings should be
constructed with embedded physical termite barriers so
no easy means remain for termites to gain concealed
entry. While barriers of poisoned soil, so-called termite
pre-treatment, have been in general use since the 1970s,
it is preferable that these be used only for existing
buildings without effective physical barriers.

The intent of termite barriers (whether physical, poisoned

soil, or some of the new poisoned plastics) is to prevent
the termites from gaining unseen access to structures. In
most instances, termites attempting to enter a barriered
building will be forced into the less favourable approach
of building shelter tubes up the outside walls; thus, they
can be clearly visible both to the building occupants and
a range of predators.
Timber treatment
Use of timber that is naturally resistant to termites, such
as Syncarpia glomulifera (turpentine tree), Tectona
grandis (teak), Callitris glaucophylla (white cypress), or
one of the sequoias. No tree species has every individual
tree yielding only timbers that are immune to termite
damage, so even with well-known termite-resistant
timber types, pieces occasionally will be attacked.
When termites have already penetrated a building, the
first action is usually to destroy the colony with
insecticides before removing the termites means of
access and fixing the problems that encouraged them in
the first place. Baits (feeder stations) with small
quantities of disruptive insect hormones or other very
slow-acting toxins have become the preferred, least-toxic

management tool in most western countries. This has

replaced the dusting of toxins direct into termite tunnels
that had been widely done since the early 1930s
(originating in Australia). The main dust toxicants have
been the inorganic metallic poison arsenic trioxide, insect
growth regulators (hormones such as triflumuron), and
more recently fipronil, a phenyl-pyrazole. Blowing dusts
into termite workings is a highly skilled process. All these
slow-acting poisons can be distributed by the workers for
hours or weeks before any symptoms occur and are
capable of destroying the entire colony. More modern
variations
include
chlorfluazuron,
diflubenzuron,
hexaflumuron, and novaflumuron as bait toxicants, and
fipronil, imidacloprid, and chlorantraniprole as soil
poisons. Soil poisons are the least-preferred method of
control, as this requires large doses of toxin and results
in uncontrollable release to the environment.
The termites effects are damaging, costing the
southwestern United States approximately $1.5 billion
each year in wood structure damage. To better control
the population of termites, researchers at the Agricultural
Research Service have found a way to track the
movement of the destructive pests. In 1990, researchers
found a way to safely and reliably track termites using

immunoglobulin G (IgG) marker proteins from rabbits or

chickens. In field tests, termite bait was laced with the
rabbit IgG and the termites were randomly exposed to
feeding on this bait. Termites were later collected from
the field and tested for the rabbit-IgG markers using a
rabbit-IgG-specific assay. However, this method of testing
for the tracking proteins is expensive. Recently,
researchers have developed a new way of tracking the
termites using egg white, cow milk, or soy milk proteins,
which can be sprayed on the termites in the field. This
new method is less expensive because the proteins can
be traced using a protein-specific ELISA test. The ELISA
test is more affordable, because it is designed for mass
production. Researchers hope to use this method of
tracking termites to find a more cost-effective way to
control the damaging pests.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Ground water divining in ancient India
Varaha Mihira (505 AD- 587 AD), an Indian astronomer,
mathematician, and astrologer, in his treatise Brihat
Samhita, refers to Dakargala (Sanskrit word meaning
science of underground water exploration), in which he
elaborately explains the value of termite mounds as an
indicators of underground water.
In Verse.S.54.9 of the Samhita, it is stated that sweet
ground water would be found near a termite mound
located east of a jambu tree (botanical names
Syzygium jambus, S. jambolana, S. javanicum), at a
specific distance and a specific depth of 15 ft to the
south of the tree.
The above verse has been justified with an explanation:
Without exception the water requirements of the insects

are generally very high, and they need to protect

themselves against fatal desiccation by living and
working within the climatically sealed environment of
their nest or within earth covered galleries. According to
present level of research, the atmosphere within the nest
has to be maintained practically saturation moisture level
(99-100 % humidity). It is a matter of common
observation that whenever a termite nest or runway, is
damaged, the insects immediately rush to the breach
and repairs it with wet soil brought up from within the
nest. From an overall consideration of the evidence it
seems to be safe to conclude that, while normally the
insects use every readily available source of water close
to the ground surface, under condition of severe climatic
stress, they can and they probably do descend to the
water table, no matter how deep it may be. Hence, a
well-developed, active, permanent colony of moundbuilding termites can be taken as an indication of
underground springs in proximity.
Three examples mentioned in the referred publication
are, a) termiteries seen in the Katanga province (Congo
Kinshasa) right up to the hill slopes where springs
emerge, b) in the dry jungle uplands of coastal zone of

Karnataka state (old Mysore state) and c) in the Deccan

Plateau area.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Termites as a source of inspiration in architecture
The Eastgate Centre, Harare, is a shopping centre and
office block in central Harare, Zimbabwe, whose
architect, Mick Pearce, used passive cooling inspired by
that being used by the local termites. Termite mounds
include flues that vent through the top and sides, and the
mound itself is designed to catch the breeze. As the wind
blows, hot air from the main chambers below ground is
drawn out of the structure, helped by termites opening or
blocking tunnels to control air flow.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
In captivity
Few zoos hold termites, due to the difficulty in keeping
them captive and the reluctance of authorities to permit
potential pests. One of the few that does is Zoo Basel in
Switzerland. At Zoo Basel, two African termite
(Macrotermes bellicosus) populations exist and thrive
resulting in very rare (in captivity) mass migrations of
young flying termites. This happened last in September
2008, when thousands of male termites left their mound
each night, died, and covered the floors and water pits of
the house where their exhibit is located.

Ecology Termite Control

Plant defences against termites
Many plants have developed effective defences against
termites, and in most ecosystems, there is an observable
balance between the growth of plants and the feeding of
termites. Defence is typically achieved by secreting antifeedant chemicals (such as oils, resins, and lignins) into
the woody cell walls. This reduces the ability of termites
to efficiently digest the cellulose. Many of the strongly
termite-resistant tree species have heartwood timber that
is extremely dense (such as Eucalyptus camaldulensis)
due to accretion of these resins. Over the years there
has been considerable research into these natural
defensive chemicals with scientists seeking to add them
to timbers from susceptible trees. A commercial product,
Blockaid, has been developed in Australia and uses a
range of plant extracts to create a paint-on nontoxic
termite barrier for buildings. In 2005 a group of Australian

scientists discovered (announced) a treatment based

on an extract of a species of Eremophila that repels
termites.Tests have shown that termites are strongly
repelled by the toxic material to the extent that they will
starve rather than consume cross treated samples.
When kept close to the extract, they become disoriented
and eventually die. Scientists hoped to use this toxic
compound commercially as a soil barrier but it failed field
testing.

systematics
Evolutionary history

Taxonomy, evolution, and

Termite
Control

The oldest unambiguous termite fossils date to the early

Cretaceous, although structures from the late Triassic

have been interpreted as fossilized termite nests. Given

the diversity of Cretaceous termites, it is likely that they
had their origin at least sometime in the Jurassic.
Weesner believes that Mastotermitidae termites may go
back to the Permian and fossil wings have been
discovered in the Permian of Kansas which have a close
resemblance to wings of Mastotermes of the
Mastotermitidae, which is the most primitive living
termite. It is thought to be the descendant of genus
Cryptocercus, the wood roach. This fossil is called
Pycnoblattina. It folded its wings in a convex pattern
between segments 1a and 2a. Mastotermes is the only
living insect that does the same., However, all of the
Paleozoic and Triassic termites have subsequently
been determined to be unrelated to termites and are
excluded from the Isoptera.
It has long been accepted that termites are closely
related to cockroaches and mantids, and they are
classified in the same superorder (Dictyoptera), but new
research has shed light on the details of termite
evolution. There is now strong evidence suggesting that
termites are really highly modified, social, wood-eating
cockroaches. A study conducted by scientists has found
that endosymbiotic bacteria from termites and a genus of

cockroaches, Cryptocercus, share the strongest

phylogenetical similarities out of all other cockroaches.
Both termites and Cryptocercus also share similar
morphological and social featuresmost cockroaches
do not show social characteristics, but Cryptocercus
takes care of its young and exhibits other social
behaviour. As mentioned above, the primitive giant
northern termite (Mastotermes darwiniensis) exhibits
numerous cockroach-like characteristics, such as laying
its eggs in rafts and having anal lobes on the wings that
are not shared with other termites. Cryptocercus and
Isoptera are united together into the clade Xylophagodea.

Termite
Organization Termite Control

Social

Reproductives
At maturity, a primary queen has a great capacity to lay
eggs. In some species, the mature queen has a greatly
distended abdomen and may produce 20,000 to 30,000
eggs a day. The two mature ovaries may have some
2000 ovarioles each. The abdomen increases the
queens body length to several times more than before
mating and reduces her ability to move freely, though
attendant workers provide assistance. The queen is
widely believed to be a primary source of pheromones
useful in colony integration, and these are thought to be
spread through shared feeding (trophallaxis).
The king grows only slightly larger after initial mating and
continues to mate with the queen for life (a termite queen
can live for 45 years.
The winged (or alate) caste, also referred to as the
primary reproductive caste, are generally the only
termites with well-developed eyes, although workers of
some harvesting species do have well-developed
compound eyes, and, in other species, soldiers with eyes
occasionally appear. Termites on the path to becoming
alates going through incomplete metamorphosis form a
subcaste in certain species of termites, functioning as

workers pseudergates and also as potential

supplementary reproductives. Supplementaries have the
ability to replace a dead primary reproductive and, at
least in some species, several are recruited once a
primary queen is lost. Supplementary reproductives
developed from nymphs are called secondary
reproductives. In some species like eastern subterranean
termite, reproductives can also develop from nonnymphs. These are called tertiary reproductives.
In areas with a distinct dry season, the alates leave the
nest in large swarms after the first soaking rain of the
rainy season. In other regions, flights may occur
throughout the year, or more commonly, in the spring and
autumn. Termites are relatively poor fliers and are readily
blown downwind in wind speeds of less than 2 km/h,
shedding their wings soon after landing at an acceptable
site, where they mate and attempt to form a nest in damp
timber or earth.

Organization
Soldiers

Termite
Termite

Social
Control

The soldier caste has anatomical and behavioural

specializations, providing strength and armour which are
primarily useful against ant attack. The proportion of
soldiers within a colony varies both within and among
species. Many soldiers have jaws so enlarged, they
cannot feed themselves, but instead, like juveniles, are
fed
by
workers.
The
pantropical
subfamily
Nasutitermitinae have soldiers with the ability to exude
noxious liquids through a horn-like nozzle (nasus).
Simple holes in the forehead, fontanelles, exuding
defensive secretions are a feature of the family
Rhinotermitidae. Many species are readily identified
using the characteristics of the soldiers heads,
mandibles, or nasi. Among the drywood termites, a
soldiers globular (phragmotic) head can be used to
block their narrow tunnels. Termite soldiers are usually

blind, but in some families, particularly among the

dampwood termites, soldiers developing from the
reproductive line may have at least partly functional eyes.
The specialization of the soldier caste is principally a
defence against predation by ants. The wide range of jaw
types and phragmotic heads provides methods that
effectively block narrow termite tunnels against ant entry.
A tunnel-blocking soldier can rebuff attacks from many
ants. Usually more soldiers stand by behind the initial
soldier so once the first one falls another soldier will take
the place. In cases where the intrusion is coming from a
breach that is larger than the soldiers head, defence
requires special formations where soldiers form a
phalanx-like formation around the breach and bite at
intruders or exude toxins from the nasus or fontanelle.
This formation involves self-sacrifice because once the
workers have repaired the breach during fighting, no
return is provided, thus leading to the death of all
defenders. Another form of self-sacrifice is performed by
Southeast Asian tar baby termites (Globitermes
sulphureus). The soldiers of this species commit suicide
by autothysisrupturing a large gland just beneath the
surface of their cuticles. The thick, yellow fluid in the
gland becomes very sticky on contact with the air,

entangling ants or other insects which are trying to

invade the nest.
Termites undergo incomplete metamorphosis. Freshly
hatched young appear as tiny termites that grow without
significant morphological changes (other than wings and
soldier specializations). Some species of termites have
dimorphic soldiers (up to three times the size of smaller
soldiers). Though their value is unknown, they may
function as an elite class that defends only the inner
tunnels of the mound. Evidence for this is, even when
provoked, these large soldiers do not defend themselves,
but retreat deeper into the mound. On the other hand,
dimorphic soldiers are common in some Australian
species of Schedorhinotermes that neither build mounds
nor appear to maintain complex nest structures. Some
termite taxa are without soldiers; perhaps the best known
of these are in the Apicotermitinae.

Organization
Nests

Termite
Termite

Social
Control

Termite workers build and maintain nests which house

the colony. These are elaborate structures made using a
combination of soil, mud, chewed wood/cellulose, saliva,
and faeces. A nest has many functions such as providing
a protected living space and water conservation (through
controlled condensation). There are nursery chambers
deep within the nest where eggs and first instar larvae
are tended. Some species maintain fungal gardens that
are fed on collected plant matter, providing a nutritious
mycelium on which the colony then feeds. Nests are
punctuated by a maze of tunnel-like galleries that provide
air conditioning and control the CO2/O2 balance, as well
as allow the termites to move through the nest.

Nests are commonly built underground, in large pieces of

timber, inside fallen trees, or atop living trees. Some
species build nests above ground, and they can develop
into mounds. Homeowners need to be careful of tree
stumps that have not been dug up. These are prime
candidates for termite nests and being close to homes,
termites usually end up destroying the siding and
sometimes even wooden beams.
Some species build complex nests called polycalic nests.
This habitat of forming polycalic nests is called
polycalism. Polycalic species of termites form multiple
nests, or calies, connected by subterranean chambers.
All four subfamilies of the Termitidae are known to have
polycalic species. This habit can make control difficult
because when one nest is eliminated, re-infestation can
easily occur via the underground connections to other
nests. Polycalic nests appear to be less frequent in
mound building species, although polycalic arboreal
nests have been observed in a few species of the
Microcerotermes and several species of Nasutitermes

Termite
Organization Termite Control

Social

please visit our website http://www.termite.ph/ for more

information
Shelter tubes
Termites are weak and relatively fragile insects that need
to stay moist to survive. They can be overpowered by
ants and other predators when exposed. They avoid
these perils by covering their trails with tubing made of
feces, plant matter, saliva, and soil. Thus, the termites
can remain hidden and wall out unfavourable
environmental conditions. Sometimes these shelter tubes
will extend for many metres, such as up the outside of a
tree reaching from the soil to dead branches.
To subterranean termites, any breach of their tunnels or
nests is a cause for alarm. When the Formosan
subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus) and the

eastern subterranean termite (Reticulitermes flavipes)

detect a potential breach, the soldiers will usually bang
their heads apparently to attract other soldiers for
defence and recruit additional workers to repair any
breach. This head-banging response to vibration is also
useful when attempting to locate termites in house
frames.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Termites in the human diet
The alates have been an important component in the diet
of native African populations. Different communities had
different methods of collecting or even cultivating the

insects, but most of them favoured the alates, though

some also collected the soldiers of some species.
Queens are harder to acquire, but are widely regarded
as a delicacy when available. The insects certainly are
nutritious, having a good store of fat and protein, and are
palatable in most species, with a nutty flavour when
cooked. They are easily gathered at the beginning of the
rainy season in West, Central and Southern Africa when
they swarm, as they are attracted to lights and can be
gathered up when they land on nets put up around a
lamp. The wings are shed and can be removed by a
technique similar to winnowing. They are best gently
roasted on a hot plate or lightly fried until slightly crisp; oil
is not usually needed since their bodies are naturally
high in oil. Traditionally, they make a welcome treat at the
beginning of the rainy season when livestock is lean,
new crops have not yet produced food, and stored
produce from the previous growing season is running
low.
On other continents, termites also are eaten, though
generally more locally or tribally in parts of Asia and the
Americas than in Africa. In Australia, the aboriginal
peoples knew of termites as being edible, but apparently
they did not relish them greatly, even in hard times. It is

unclear from most sources whether the lack of interest

extended to the alates, as well as the workers and
soldiers.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Agriculture
Termites can be major agricultural pests, particularly in
East Africa and North Asia, where crop losses can be
severe. Counterbalancing this is the greatly improved
water infiltration where termite tunnels in the soil allow
rainwater to soak in deeply and help reduce runoff and
consequent soil erosion through bioturbation.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Termites as a source of energy
The U.S. Department of Energy is researching ways to
replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of cleaner
energy, and termites are considered a possible way to
reach this goal through metagenomics.
Termites may produce up to two litres of hydrogen from
digesting a single sheet of paper, making them one of
the planets most efficient bioreactors. Termites achieve
this high degree of efficiency by exploiting the metabolic
capabilities of about 200 different species of microbes
that inhabit their hindguts. The microbial community in
the termite gut efficiently manufactures large quantities of

hydrogen; the complex lignocellulose polymers within

wood are broken down into simple sugars by fermenting
bacteria in the termites gut, using enzymes that produce
hydrogen as a byproduct. A second wave of bacteria
uses the simple sugars and hydrogen to make the
acetate the termite requires for energy. By sequencing
the termites microbial community, the DOE hopes to get
a better understanding of these biochemical pathways. If
it can be determined which enzymes are used to create
hydrogen, and which genes produce them, this process
could potentially be scaled up with bioreactors to
generate hydrogen from woody biomass, such as poplar,
in commercial quantities.
Skeptics regard this as unlikely to become a carbonneutral commercial process owing to the energy inputs
required to maintain the system. For decades,
researchers have sought to house termites on a
commercial scale (like worm farms) to break down
woody debris and paper, but funding has been scarce,
and the problems of developing a continuous process
that does not disrupt the termites homeostasis have not
been overcome.

Human Interaction Termite

Control
Ecology
Ecologically, termites are important in nutrient recycling,
habitat creation, soil formation and quality and,
particularly the winged reproductives, as food for
countless predators. The role of termites in hollowing
timbers and thus providing shelter and increased wood
surface areas for other creatures is critical for the
survival of a large number of timber-inhabiting species.
Larger termite mounds play a role in providing a habitat
for plants and animals, especially on plains in Africa that
are seasonally inundated by a rainy season, providing a

retreat above the water for smaller animals and birds,

and a growing medium for woody shrubs with root
systems that cannot withstand inundation for several
weeks. In addition, scorpions, lizards, snakes, small
mammals, and birds live in abandoned or weathered
mounds, and aardvarks dig substantial caves and
burrows in them, which may then become homes for
animals such as hyenas and mongooses.
As detritivores, termites clear away leaf and woody litter
and so reduce the severity of the annual bush fires in
African savannas, which are not as destructive as those
in Australia and the U.S.A. Their role in bioturbation on
the Khorat Plateau is under investigation.
Globally, termites are found roughly between 50 degrees
north and south, with the greatest biomass in the tropics
and the greatest diversity in tropical forests and
Mediterranean shrublands. Termites are also considered
to be a major source (11%) of atmospheric methane, one
of the prime greenhouse gases.Termites have been
common since at least the Cretaceous period. Termites
also eat bone and other parts of carcasses, and their
traces have been found on dinosaur bones from the
middle Jurassic in China.

Taxonomy, evolution, and

systematics Termite Control
Recent DNA evidence has supported the hypothesis,
originally based on morphology, that termites are most
closely related to the wood-eating cockroaches (genus
Cryptocercus), to which the singular and very primitive
Mastotermes darwiniensis shows some telltale
similarities. Most recently, this has led some authors to
propose that termites be reclassified as a single family,
Termitidae, within the order Blattodea, which contains
cockroaches. However, most researchers advocate the
less drastic measure of retaining the termites as
Termitoidae, an epifamily within the cockroach order,
which preserves the classification of termites at family
level and below.

Taxonomy, evolution, and

Termite
Control

systematics
Systematics
As of 2013, about 3,106 living and fossil termite species
are recognized, classified in 12 families These are
arranged here in a phylogenetic sequence, from the most
basal to the most advanced:

Cratomastotermitidae Engel, Grimaldi, & Krishna, 2009

(1
Early
Cretaceous
species)
Clade Euisoptera Engel, Grimaldi, & Krishna, 2009
Mastotermitidae Desneux (1 living species, Mastotermes
darwiniensis;
numerous
fossils)
Hodotermitidae
(3
genera)
Termopsidae
(1
extinct
genus)
Archotermopsidae Engel, Grimaldi, & Krishna, 2009 (3
genera)
Stolotermitidae
Holmgren,
1910

Porotermitinae
Emerson,
1942
Stolotermitinae
Holmgren,
1910
Clade
Icoisoptera
Engel,
2013
Kalotermitidae Froggatt (22 genera, 419 species)
Clade Neoisoptera Engel, Grimaldi, & Krishna, 2009
Arcehorhinotermitidae Krishna & Grimaldi, 2003
Stylotermitidae
Holmgren,
K
&
N,
1917
Rhinotermitidae
(14
genera,
343
species)
Coptotermitinae
Holmgren
Heterotermitinae
Froggatt
Prorhinoterminae Quennedey & Deligne, 1975
Psammotermitinae
Holmgren
Rhinotermitinae
Froggatt
Termitogetoninae
Holmgren
Serritermitidae
(2
genera
and
species)
Termitidae
(236
genera,
1958
species)
Apicotermitinae Grass & Noirot, 1954 (42 genera, 208
species)
Foraminitermitinae Holmgren, 1912 (2 genera, 9 species)
Macrotermitinae Kemner, 1934 (13 genera, 362 species)
Nasutitermitinae Hare, 1937 (80 genera, 576 species)
Sphaerotermitinae Engel & Krishna, 2004 (1 species)
Syntermitinae Engel & Krishna, 2004 (13 genera, 99
species)

Cubitermitinae
Termitinae Latreille, 1802 (90 genera, 760 species)
The most current classification of termites is summarized
by Engel & Krishna (2004), Engel et al. (2009), and
Krishna et al. (2013)

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