15th March: Termite Awareness Week

13-19 March is Termite Awareness week. Here are some things you might not know about termites.

1. The word termite comes from the Latin word terere, meaning "to rub, wear, erode". An old term for them is "white ants", although they are not ants. The word "termite was first used in 1781. A termite nest is called a terminarium or termitaria.
2. They are cousins of the cockroach, having evolved from a common ancestor in the Jurassic or Triassic period.
3. There are about 3,100 different species of termite, found all over the world except for Antarctica - they don't like the cold! A thousand species are found in Africa, but only ten in Europe.
4. Termites are viewed as pests in some areas but on the whole are of great ecological importance. They feed on dead plant matter and animal dung, so they have an important role in recycling waste. They are also food for a vast number of animals, insects and birds including bees, centipedes, cockroaches, Crickets, dragonflies, Frogs, Aardvarks, anteaters, Bats, Bears, echidnas, foxes, Mice, Pangolins and chimpanzees.
5. Humans eat them too in many parts of the world, especially when food crops are scarce. Termite queens are a delicacy. Termites are good sources of fat and protein and are said to taste rather like nuts when cooked. Indigenous Australians, however, never eat them, even though they know they could. Nobody knows why not.
6. Termites build their nests out of partially digested material and poo. Some species nests are entirely underground while others build mounds which can be 3 to 4 metres (9 to 13 feet) high and 2.5 metres (8 feet) wide. The tallest termite mound ever found was in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was 12.8 metres (42ft). They also build "shelter tubes" on walls or trees to protect commuting workers from predators.
7. Termites usually measure between 4 to 15 millimetres (0.16 to 0.59 in) in length. There was once a giant species in Austria which had a wingspan of 76 millimetres (3.0 in) and a body length of 25 millimetres (0.98 in), but it is now extinct. The largest termites alive now are the queens of the species Macrotermes bellicosus, measuring up to 10 centimetres (4 in).
8. Like ants and bees, termites live in colonies and have specialised roles within it. There are soldiers, workers, kings and queens. Young termites, known as nymphs, and soldiers cannot feed themselves, so the workers have to feed them. Soldiers and workers of most species do not have eyes or wings. They rely on their legs to get around, and on pheromones and sense of smell to find food and communicate.
9. Termite queens are the longest lived insects in the world and can live as long as 50 years. Kings and queens mate for life after pairing up during a nuptial flight. The couple go off to find a suitable place to build a nest, and only then do they mate. A mature queen can produce as many as 40,000 eggs a day, and although the male sticks around and continues to fertilise her, the queen can switch from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction in order to produce potential replacements for herself.
10. Each termite colony has its own distinct smell, determined by genetics and diet. This means termites can distinguish between members of their own colony and strangers. Colonies literally go to war with each other over food and territory.

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