| Name: |
Termite (Drywood) |
| AKA: |
Grinder |
| Scientific Name: |
Zootermopsis sp. |
| Description: |
Soldier 3/8 inch; male and female reproductives up to
1/2 inch long. Bodies soft and cylindrical in shape, usually pale
brown in color; six legged; they have compound eyes and chewing type
mouthparts. During the winged stage there are 2 pairs of equal sized
wings that extend longer than the body by 1/8-1/4 inch. |
| Diet: |
Wood and occasionally other cellulose materials. They
eat wood in houses, utility poles, furniture and dying trees. Termites
can not digest the celluose directly. They have other microorganisms
(protozoans and bacteria) in their stomachs that help break down the
cellulose which then can be digested by the termites own metabolism.
Termites also groom each other, thereby eating cast skins and feces
of the members of the colony. They also clean up the colony by eating
dead individuals. |
| Habitat: |
They live in small social colonies (caste system like
ants; see below) in dry wood. Dry wood termites mate and fly to new
dry wood areas; enter a small hole in the wood and start to form a
colony. Colonies will contain up to 2500 members. They do not need
a source of water and live off of the water that is produced from
the digestion of the cellulose.
Individuals are morphologically differentiated into distinct forms
or castes - reproductives, workers, and soldiers. Each performs
a separate biological function. Only the reproductives are winged
(4 wings). Their are no workers in the drywood termite group - instead
the young reproductives and soldiers serve as workers until they
mature. The vast majority in the colony is the worker caste and
the workers and the reproductives have chewing mouthparts especially
adapted for chewing wood. It is the workers who do the wide-spread
destruction. The soldiers have powerful mandibles to behead, dismember
or lacerate enemies (usually ants).
|
| Wanted For: |
Causing serious damage to wooden structures. Because
termites eat wood from the inside they go undetected. |
| Last Known Location: |
Unknown, perhaps lurking in your walls! |
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