For the technically-minded, termites are eusocial animals of the Class Insecta; Subclass Pterygota; Infraclass Neoptera; Superorder Dictyoptera and Order Isoptera. They are not related to ants in any way, although some people speak of them as white ants. Having said, that termites do share a few traits with ants: firstly, work is apportioned along lines of gender and secondly, the leader of the colony is the termite queen.

A normal, mature colony will contain between several hundred and several million insects of the following types: nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both sexes and at least one egg-laying queen.

The reproductive caste, also referred to as the winged or alate caste, are usually the only termites with quite well-developed eyes although in some species there are sporadically soldiers with eyes as well. Termites that are suitable to become alates will undergo an incomplete metamorphosis.

These changelings form a sub-caste in certain species of termites, being both as both workers, pseudergates, and also as potential replacement reproductive termite. These back-up alates can be brought on to replace dead primary reproductives and sometimes, in some species, replacement alates are brought on if a primary queen is killed.

In countries with distinct dry and rainy or monsoon seasons, like the tropics, the alates can be seen flying up from the earth in swarms that look like white streamers blowing in a breeze, immediately after a dry spell is broken by rain. These alates have three pairs of wings, but they are not good at flying.

They can be seen in their thousands flying around street lights like moths, where people catch them to eat. Lightly fried in their own oil, without the wings, they are supposed to be, juicy, nutty and full of protein. Quite tasty, in fact. Frogs and toads sit under the street lamps eagerly awaiting a juicy meal as well.

A queen is a former winged reproductive termite (of the Winged or Alate Caste. She will have flitted away from her nest or nest of birth, dropped to the ground, shed her wings, mated and then crawled into the nearest hole in the ground (depending on her species) to found a new colony or nest. In some species, the queen adds an further set of ovaries with each molt of her skin and can create 2,000 eggs a day.

A male that has flown and mated with the queen is known as a king. Sometimes, these kings stay close by the queen, but sometimes they do not. At the next molt, the king will be slightly bigger that he was before. However, the king and the queen are not monogamous. Several males may mate with the queen and there may be a couple of queens within a colony.

As the queen molts and grows bigger with each molt, her abdomen can become hundreds of times its original size, although her head and legs remain the same as before. Obviously, at this size she can no longer walk as her legs do not reach the ground and would not support her weight anyway. At this juncture, she is totally dependent on the assistance of worker termites, which she controls through pheromones.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with types of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

Termites are not ants, but they do resemble them in many ways. In fact, termites are not even distantly related to ants, they are more closely related to cockroaches. But, as I stated, termites share many traits with ants. They live in colonies of many hundreds, thousands and even millions of inhabitants, they have a queen termite, they are controlled by something we humans do not comprehend, but which we call ‘collective intelligence’, they are given this information by pheromones and they procreate by means of eggs. The queen can lay thousands of termite eggs per day and there can be more than one queen per colony.

A mature termite queen is capable of laying thousands of eggs a day. This is achieved by having an enlarged abdomen. Sometimes the abdomen is a hundred times the size of a normal termite, although the head and the legs stay the same size as before.

This process produces rather a grotesque creature compared to her relatives, although we obviously do not know how they look upon her. Being blind and in the gloom of a termite colony they cannot see her anyway. In some species, the queen will grow a new set of ovaries with each molting of her skin, which will increase her fecundity even more.

When a mature queen is at this phase in her life, she cannot move, because when she lies on her belly her legs do not even reach the ground. If she has to get anywhere for whatever reason, the worker termites will either carry or roll her there. They also tend to her toiletry needs and feed her.

It can take dozens and dozens of workers to shift the queen when she has become an egg factory. If she is moved by the workers, they are rewarded with a liquid that the queen secretes from her behind. It is invigorating enough to revive the workers and encourage them to do the queen’s bidding next time. The queen communicates with her subjects through pheromones.

However we try to humanize this process in order to better understand it, it is virtually impossible to think like a termite or any other insect that uses ‘collective intelligence’. We talk about ‘the queen’, but do termites think of her as ‘the boss’? Do they pity her for not being able to get out? Almost definitely not. She has a job to perform as do the other castes of termites and it is probable that not one caste feels itself to be higher or lower than another.

Calling the various castes of termites queens, kings, soldiers and workers is just a method of explaining things in simple human terms, but it almost certainly bears little relevance to how termites interact within their own society.

An interesting aside to the topic of termite eggs is the winged termites, also called reproductive or alate termites. They can sit in the wings waiting for the right moment to fly off and set up a new colony or one of them can be ‘brought on’ to replace a queen that has died or been killed.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on lots of subjects, but is at present concerned with how to get rid of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

How If only bees could be controlled with a handheld remote control, as being a toy plane. But, alas, it isn’t possible, not really remotely – no pun intended. However, bee control and extermination is obviously possible and possible. And, the very best news is, it’s not necessary to do-it-yourself!

You may think I’m just being melodramatic when it involves to bees. Absolutely not! I’m speaking from the experience. I’ve had many, many past encounters with those bees and that I could certainly say all are not pleasant, neither worth reminiscing. I’ve been hassled, chased and stung a lot of occasions through the bees I’ve fears of these already. The mere mention, the mere sight of the flying animal is sufficient to enhance the fur of my skin.

That’s the reason why, when we found out that there is a beehive in our tree, we immediately called a professional bee control company to get rid of it. There is no way I want my children to suffer what I have gone through. I’ve already told them my unfortunate encounters with the bees and they understand how dangerous the bees are.

I’m not going to do the job of getting rid of the bees, either. No, no, no, definitely not. Part of my unfortunate encounters with them in the past includes me trying to get rid of them myself. Yes, thinking it was just a so-so task, I elected to do it myself. What happened next? Hah! I found myself in the emergency room suffering from multiple sting bites.

So, to get rid of the bees once and for all, I have called in the bee control experts. They are the ones qualified to do the job and I have no beef with that. No way am I going near those flying scoundrels even with a ten feet pole. It’s theirs and I know they will make a good job out of it. The most important thing here is that the bees are eliminated from our home completely and my family is safe. That’s all there is to it.

Learn more about Bee Control Treatment. Stop by at Adams Pest Control website where you can find more information about Bee Control Treatment and what it can do for you.

Every home-owner has to look after their asset. This requires maintenance, regular and methodical maintenance. There are many threats to a structure, especially if there is a considerable amount of timber in it. Most properties have a lot of wooden areas. The rafters in the roof, the joists underneath the floors and the casing behind the plasterboard walls are all subject to attack by mould and insects.

The kinds of dangers your that house faces depends on the climate where you live. Wet rot and dry rot are pretty widespread, as is attack by wasps, but the worst and fastest-acting danger is from termites and they only live in warmer climates.

If you live in a termite sector, then you really ought to look out for these insects. If you want to delay your inspections, you can use termite deterrents and poisons to make your maintenance regimen a little easier.

This will involve spreading chemicals in most cases as they are more powerful and longer-lasting. These chemicals should be laid down or sprayed wherever termites are likely to commence an attack on the structure of your home.

This basically means everywhere that there is untreated timber. There are three basic types of termites, the damp wood termites, the dry wood termites and the subterranean termites. The first two types may fly into your attic and establish a nest like a wasps’ nest; the subterranean termites will come up into the basement via underground tunnels. Subterranean termites are by far the worst termites to have and they are usually the most difficult to discover.

If you live in a termite region, then you really ought to make quarterly inspections of your attic and basement and one of those inspections should be towards the end of Spring, when termites, together with other insects spread their wings, quite literally, and try to set up new colonies.

A nest of termites can consist of between several hundred and several million termites, so it is best not to delay. If you are loathe to do these checks yourself or if you need written guarantees on your buildings because you buy and sell them often, it is better to get a professional pest controller in to do this for you.

There are two chief termite deterrents. There is the soil barrier to counteract the subterranean termites and contact insecticides to poison any swarming reproductive termites that may fly into your loft in order to establish a new colony.

If you are one of the new age thinkers, who tries hard not to use chemicals unless absolutely necessary, you will probably be disappointed in your quest to deter termites. Unfortunately, there are no known effective natural termite deterrents, although there are plenty of chemical ones.

Another alternative, which is a half-way house, is to put termite bait at strategic spots around the foundations of your house. You can buy these bait boxes quite cheaply or have a firm install them for you.

You have to check these termite bait boxes regularly. Once you see termite damage in the bait box, you put poison in there, which the worker termites will take back to their nest and poison it with.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with how to get rid of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.