Isoptera Termite

Termites , sometimes known as white ants , Termites feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter or soil, and about 10% of the 4,000 odd species are economically important as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests.

Appearance and morphology
Compared with ants, they are softer, whiter, shorter-legged, fatter and generally much slower moving. Most importantly, they are not at all closely related to ants.

Termites have biting mouthparts and their soft bodies are small, rarely over 1 cm in length. They typically inhabit dark nests and tunnels, only venturing out when the winged alates emerge to leave their parent colony, when constructing shelter or, in the case of grass- and leaf-litter-feeders, when harvesting their food. The bodies of flying individuals are darker, while termites which remain in the nest are generally whitish with only their heads being lightly pigmented. The wings are quickly shed after flight with a simple body flick when the swarming termites find a new nest site, pair up and dig in. The remnant of a wing is a distinct triangular scale.

Social structure and behaviour
As social insects , termites live in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals.

Reproductives
A female that has flown, mated and is producing eggs, is termed a "Queen". Similarly, a male that has flown, mated and remains in proximity to a queen, is termed a "King". Multiple pairs of reproductives within a colony are not uncommon, but for the families Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae,at least, sperm competition does not seem to occur, suggesting that only one male (king) generally mates within the colony. At maturity, a primary queen can lay several thousand eggs a day. In physogastric species, the queen adds an extra set of ovaries with each moult , resulting in a greatly distended abdomen and increased fecundity . The distended abdomen increases her size in some species to as much as 10 centimetres, hundreds of times the original size, effectively immobilizing her. In times where these huge queens must be moved to a new chamber it requires a group effort to move her and hundreds of workers are required to push her. The queen is widely believed to be a primary source of pheromones useful in colony integration. As a reward for attending workers a juice is secreted from the queen's posterior for the workers to drink. The king remains only slightly bigger than an average termite and continues to mate with the queen for life. This is very different from ant societies, which have colonies with only a queen which mates once with the male(s) and stores his gametes for life. Males in ant colonies die immediately after mating, unlike termite male alates, which become kings and live with the queen. The alate caste, also referred to as the 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). Immature alates still going through incomplete metamorphosis form a sub-caste in certain species of termites, functioning as functional workers ('pseudergates') and also as potential supplementary reproductives. Supplementaries have the ability to replace a dead primary reproductive and in at least some species several are recruited once a primary queen is lost.

Workers
Worker termites undertake the labours of foraging, food storage, brood, nest maintenance and some of the defence effort in certain species. Workers are the main caste in the colony for the digestion of cellulose in food. This is achieved in one of two ways. In all termite families except the Termitidae, there are flagellates ( Protista ) in the gut that 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 is complicated by the finding that all studied termites can produce their own cellulase enzymes , and therefore can digest wood in the absence of their symbiotic microbes. 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 that 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 as it frees the parents from feeding the young, allowing for the group to grow much larger and ensuring that the gut symbionts are transferred from one generation to another.

Termite workers are generally blind due to undeveloped eyes. Despite this limitation they are able to create elaborate nests and tunnel systems using a combination of soil, chewed wood /cellulose, saliva and faeces. Some species have been known to create such durable walls that industrial machinery has been damaged in an attempt to break their tall mounds. The nest is created and maintained by workers with many distinct features such as housing the brood, water collection through condensation, reproductive chambers, and tunnel networks that effectively provide air conditioning. A few species even practice agriculture, collecting plant matter to feed fungal gardens, upon which the colony then feeds.

Soldiers
The soldier caste has anatomical and behavioural specializations, primarily against ant attack. Many have jaws so enlarged that they cannot feed themselves, but instead, like juveniles, are fed by workers. The pan-tropical sub family Nasutitermitinae have soldiers with the ability to exude noxious liquids through either a horn-like nozzle (nasus) or simple hole in the head ( fontanelle ). Fontanelles which exude defensive secretions are also a feature of the family Rhinotermitidae. Many species are classified using the characteristics of the soldiers' heads, mandibles or nasus due to distinct differences with each species. Among the drywood termites, a soldier's enlarged head can be used to block their narrow tunnels. Termite soldiers are usually blind, but in some families, soldiers developing from the reproductive line have at least partly functional eyes. It's generally accepted that the specialization of the soldier caste is principally a defense against predation by ants. The wide range of jaw types and phragmotic heads provides methods to 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 soldier's head, defense requires special formations where soldiers form a phalanx -like formation around the breach blindly biting at intruders or shooting toxic glue from the nasus . This formation involves self sacrifice because once the breach is repaired during fighting by the workers no return is provided causing the death of all the defenders. Termites undergo incomplete metamorphosis , with their freshly hatched young taking the form of tiny termites that grow without significant morphological changes. Some species of termite have been known to have small groups of extremely large soldiers (3*normal size). Though their purpose is unknown speculation indicates that they are an elite class that defends only the inner tunnels of the mound. This is the commonly accepted belief because their size would be of great use in the large interior tunnels. Even when provoked, these large soldier termites will not defend themselves but merely travel deeper into the mound.

Termites are generally grouped according to their feeding behaviour. Thus the commonly used general groupings are: Subterranean, Soil-feeding, Drywood, Dampwood and Grass eating. Of these, subterraneans and drywoods are primarily responsible for damage to structures.

All termites eat cellulose in its various forms as plant fiber. Cellulose is a rich energy source (think of 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 gut to digest the cellulose for them, absorbing 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 with bacteria dominant. Due 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 cockroachs, like those of the genus Cryptocercus .

Some species of termite practise fungiculture - they maintain a 'garden' of specialized fungi of genus Termitomyces , which are nourished by the excrement of the insects. When the fungi in turn are eaten, their spores pass undamaged through the intestines of the termites, to complete the cycle by germinating in the fresh faecal pellets.

Human interaction
The result of an infestation is severe wood damage.

Because of their wood-eating habits, termites sometimes do great damage to 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 just to wood, also damaging paper , cloth , carpets , and other cellulosic materials. Often, other soft materials are damaged and may be used for construction. Particles taken from soft plastics, plaster, rubber and sealants such as silicon rubber and acrylics are often employed in gallery constuction

Termites try to avoid exposure to unfavourable environmental conditions. They tend to remain hidden in tunnels in earth and wood. Where they need to cross an impervious or unfavourable substrate, they cover their tracks with tubing made of faeces, plant matter and soil. Sometimes these shelter tubes will extend for many metres, such as up the outside of a tree reaching from the soil to dead branches. Most termite barrier systems used for buildings aim to prevent concealed termite access, thus forcing them out into the open where they must form clearly visible shelter tubes to gain entry.