Can termites be fatal?

Termites are decomposers of rotten wood and rotten wood, and they are one of the few animals that can decompose cellulose.

Termites belong to the gradual class of incomplete metamorphosis, and their life history is complex. Termites can be divided into two categories according to their living habits. 1. Wooddwelling termites: groups of different sizes build nests in the gnawed parts of wooden buildings, such as wooden doors and windows, wooden floors, wooden houses, railway sleepers, single-plank bridges and dead trees. , and feeds on wood fiber, which is a big pest of wood products. Wood is hollowed out by decay, and buildings are prone to collapse. The decay of railway sleepers affects the service life and poses a great threat to traffic safety. The second is soil-dwelling termites: nesting in underground soil, or nesting in a tower above the ground, called ant burial. Terrestrial termites feed on trees, leaves and fungi.

Speaking of termite feeding, there is another interesting thing. According to Lingnan Miscellanies (written by Wu Zhenfang) published during the Kangxi period, 1684, thousands of taels of silver were found missing in a yamen warehouse. The officials were very scared and looked for it everywhere. Later, some shiny white moth-eaten powder was found under the wall, and a termite nest was dug under the corner. Officials were puzzled at that time, and then put termites in the stove to burn, and the result was silver. If this record is true, there is no doubt that termites can eat silver. It has been reported at home and abroad that termites eat metals and cables, but it is impossible to find out what kind of termites they are. Termites are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, and are more common in the provinces south of the Yangtze River in China.

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white ant

Termites, also known as Insecta, Arthropods, Insecta, Isoptera, are similar to the social life of ants, and their social strata are queen ants, queen ants, soldier ants and worker ants.

Termites are weak and flat, white, light yellow, reddish brown or dark brown, and different kinds of corpses have different colors. The mouthparts are typical chewing, and the tentacles are rosary. There are long-winged, short-winged and wingless types. Winged species have two pairs of long and narrow membranous wings, which are similar in size, shape and vein order, so they are called Isoptera. After a short flight, the wings of termites can fall off from the unique transverse seam at the bottom.

Termites belong to social insects and have a complex division of labor. Individuals in a group can be divided into two types according to their morphology and division of labor, namely, reproductive type and non-reproductive type.

L, reproductive type: For females and males, their duty is to keep the old ant colony and create new ant colony. There are three levels of this type.

1) Large-winged or winged type: the body is ossified, yellow, brown or black, and the wings are developed. After removing the wings, it can become a father ant and a mother ant to establish a new ant colony. Every spring and summer. In the sultry evening after the rain, a large number of long-winged breeding ants suddenly flew out of the nest and flew low near the building not far from the nest for a short time. This phenomenon is called wedding flight or group flight (grouping). Groups of ants are flying at low altitude, as if there is a ball, choosing their own objects freely. Couples fly to the ground, take off their wings, chase in pairs, usually the former female and the latter male, complete the marriage, find a suitable place, build a new nest, lay eggs, breed offspring and form a new group. The newly-married male and female ants are the mother and father ants of the new ant colony in the future, that is, the queen and queen of the new ant colony. The couple lived a monogamous and civilized life all their lives. Termite marriage flying groups are often seen all over the south of China, but not all individuals in marriage flying can form new groups in pairs. When they fly out in large numbers, they are often eaten by various birds, carnivorous insects or other animals, and only a few will get married and become partners. Although it is a minority, it is enough to maintain its racial reproduction and cause damage to wooden buildings.

(2) Short-winged type: called supplementary reproductive type, which is more common in terrestrial species.

(3) Wingless type: it is also a supplementary reproductive ant, completely wingless. Only in the most primitive species.

2. Non-reproductive type: refers to termites without reproductive ability. They have no wings, their reproductive organs have degenerated, and they are mainly responsible for labor and fighting, so they are divided into worker ants and soldier ants.

(1) worker ants: the largest number of ant colonies. They undertake many complicated tasks in the nest, such as building ant graves, digging tunnels, building ant roads, cultivating fungus gardens, collecting food, feeding young ants and young ant soldiers, and taking care of ant eggs. In species without soldiers, they are also responsible for defending against foreign enemies.

(2) soldier ants: although there are males and females, they cannot reproduce. The soldier ant's head is long and highly ossified, and its maxilla is well developed, but it has lost its feeding function and become a weapon against the enemy. It can also be used to block holes, ant passages or palace entrances. Because the soldier ants lost their feeding function, the food was fed by the worker ants. There are two kinds of soldier ants: soldier ants with big jaws-the upper jaw forms various strange shapes, like a big fork with two teeth. Elephant trunk soldier ant-its head extends like a trunk. When it fights the enemy, it can spit out gelatinous secretions and smear the enemy.

Termites belong to the gradual class of incomplete metamorphosis, and their life history is complex. Termites can be divided into two categories according to their living habits. 1. Wooddwelling termites: groups of different sizes build nests in the gnawed parts of wooden buildings, such as wooden doors and windows, wooden floors, wooden houses, railway sleepers, single-plank bridges and dead trees. , and feeds on wood fiber, which is a big pest of wood products. Wood is hollowed out by decay, and buildings are prone to collapse. The decay of railway sleepers affects the service life and poses a great threat to traffic safety. The second is soil-dwelling termites: nesting in underground soil, or nesting in a tower above the ground, called ant burial. Terrestrial termites feed on trees, leaves and fungi.

Speaking of termite feeding, there is another interesting thing. According to Lingnan Miscellanies (written by Wu Zhenfang) published during the Kangxi period, 1684, thousands of taels of silver were found missing in a yamen warehouse. The officials were very scared and looked for it everywhere. Later, some shiny white moth-eaten powder was found under the wall, and a termite nest was dug under the corner. Officials were puzzled at that time, and then put termites in the stove to burn, and the result was silver. If this record is true, there is no doubt that termites can eat silver. It has been reported at home and abroad that termites eat metals and cables, but it is impossible to find out what kind of termites they are. Termites are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, and are more common in the provinces south of the Yangtze River in China.

Worker ants, soldier ants and queen ants in termites have lived in ant nests all their lives and never seen the light of day. This kind of nest is mostly in tree trunks, underground, and in the wood of buildings. Suitcase, wooden bookcase, etc. It's easy to turn into a termite nest after being piled up at home for many years. All three termites have no wings. They never go out for food or activities. So unless we find their nest, we will never have a chance to see them.

Among termites, only males and females with the task of building a new family have wings. Every rainy and hot summer, thousands of them fly out of their nests and fly all over the sky. The oily yellow "flying ants" we often see in the summer night light have very fragile wings and will fall off when touched. This is termites. We don't have to worry about their wings falling off, because their main function is to let them fly out of the nest. Once it flies out, the task of wings is completed. Even if you don't touch it, it will automatically fall down soon. Termites mate with each other immediately after flying out of their nests, and then find a place to build a new family.

When we work under the lamp in summer night, we often see these oily termites. They are chasing one after another, and they are there. After mating, the female ants leaving the nest gradually grow up and become new queens. An ant queen can be two to four inches big. They are incredible reproductive machines that can lay one egg per second and 30,000 eggs a day. Its life span is 30 years and it can continue to lay eggs for 30 years.

There are about 1900 species of termites in the world, and their body length ranges from 0.3 cm to 2.5 cm. Although small, it is very harmful to human beings. They eat wood fiber, which will corrode houses, bridges, furniture, floors, forests and so on. Because of its destructive power, it is called "toothless tiger" by Cantonese.

But in nature, termites are decomposers of rotten wood and rotten wood. They are one of the few animals that can decompose cellulose, make cellulose into nutrients and return to the soil, so they play an important role in the ecological cycle. In a word, termites have both disadvantages and advantages.

How do termites digest wood that even cattle and horses can't chew? It turns out that there is a protozoan called flagellate in the intestines of termites, which solves this problem.

Termites can't digest lignocellulose because their intestines don't secrete cellulose. However, flagellates can secrete a digestive cellulose, which can ferment lignocellulose into absorbable glucose and provide sufficient nutrition for termites. On the other hand, flagellates also get necessary nutrients in termites' intestines. Termites and flagellates work closely together and benefit from each other.

Termites have lived on the earth for 250 million years. They are not only the oldest animals, but also the greatest architects. The ant graves they built can prove this.

Tall termite mounds, which are common in Africa and Australia, are made of more than ten tons of soil. They are five or six meters high (up to nine meters) and are conical towers. From a distance, they look like towers and bunkers, making them a unique local landscape.

The most amazing thing is the internal structure of the anthill. Its interior extends in all directions, with spawning room and nursery, which is both solid and practical and can accommodate millions of termites. Termites are soft and only suitable for living in a dark and humid environment at room temperature. Once exposed to the sun or the temperature is too high or too hot, they will soon wither and die. In order to maintain the high humidity of the anthill, they dig tunnels and take groundwater to wet the nest; In order to maintain the normal temperature of the anthill, they set up towering ventilation pipes and used air convection to overcome this problem. They are really first-class architects.

Termites are called "termites", which is really inappropriate. Termite belongs to Isoptera, which is an incomplete metamorphosis insect, with broad chest and abdomen, soft constitution and rosary tentacles. Ant belongs to Hymenoptera, which is a completely abnormal insect with narrow chest and abdomen, hard constitution and knee-shaped tentacles. They are not ants at all. Everything about termites, judging from their reproductive ability and the results obtained after dissection, is somewhat similar to cockroaches we see every day, so many entomologists think that these two small creatures may belong to the same family in ancient times.

The loss caused by termite damage is amazing, mainly in the following aspects:

1. Harm to crops: Generally speaking, termites are not important pests of crops in China. However, the harm to the cash crop sugarcane is still serious. Its main species are: Taiwan Province termites, yellow-winged termites, black-winged termites, Hainan termites and Taiwanese milk termites.

Second, the harm to trees: there are many kinds of termites that harm trees. The main types are: new termites, sandpile termites, house termites, tree termites, scattered termites, wood-nosed termites, native termites, large termites and native termites.

Third, damage to buildings: termites damage buildings, especially brick and wood structures. Because it is hidden in the wood structure, it destroys or damages its bearing points, which often leads to the sudden collapse of the house, causing great concern. In China, termites that harm buildings mainly include; Domestic termites, termites and other genera. Among them, the species of domestic termites are the most serious termites that harm buildings. Its characteristics are strong diffusion, large population and rapid destruction, which can cause huge losses in a short time.

4. Harm to riverbanks: The severity of termite damage to riverbanks has been recorded in detail in ancient documents in China, especially in modern times. There are termites belonging to termites, termites and termites. They nest densely in dams and breed rapidly. Nurseries are dotted (except termites) and ant paths extend in all directions. Some ant paths even cross the internal and external slopes of the dam. When the water level rises in flood season, there is often the danger of pipeline leakage, and even more, it leads to dam failure.

Termite control:

● Soil treatment: Because termites mostly penetrate the soil and then enter the house. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the soil and establish toxic soil areas.

● Wood treatment: Wood parts of houses, such as beams, columns or slabs, which are in direct or indirect contact with the underground, must be treated.

● Cleaning treatment: where termites have been corroded, holes can be drilled, termites can be injected with special drugs and killed in groups. Other places, such as wood surface, soil and building foundation, must be thoroughly treated.