### animal | arthropod | insect:

Termite
* All termites are social insects.
* Many termites also have symbiotic relations with nitrogen fixing bacteria.
* Most termites appear in colonies
  - gardens
  - holes
  - wood
  - are evolved from ancestors
* Most termites are inside walls
* Most termites are located in soil
  - the subterranean type and are able to tunnel in the soil
  - construct underground colonies rather than multifunctional nests and mounds
  - destroy wood
  - eat dead wood
* Most termites emerge from colonies
  - structures
* Most termites enter habitats
  - go to wood
* Most termites have lifespans
  - long lifespans
  - mandibles
  - massive mandibles
* Most termites hide in buildings
  - keep mounds
  - kill trees
  - look like insects
* Most termites make colonies
  - reach maturity
* Most termites require nests
* Some termites also communicate by banging their heads against tunnel walls
  - appear in habitats
  - are inside Florida
  - build huge mounds of bits of soil mixed with saliva
  - carry dust
* Some termites destroy leaves
  - die after a little feeding
* Some termites eat food
  - furniture
  - limbs
  - wallpaper
* Some termites emerge from holes
  - enter trees
  - even create remarkable indoor greenhouses, where they plant and tend fungus gardens
  - fall into water
* Some termites have bacteria
  - habits
  - protozoans
  - live up to decades
* Some termites look like ants
  - fly ants
  - make up diets
* Some termites occur in Florida
  - density
  - high density
  - produce methane
  - range north into colder climes where they enjoy the warmth of centrally heated homes
  - return to nests
  - shed legs.
  * They are 'eusocial' animals, as are ants and some bees and wasps. Termites mostly feed on detritus, mostly wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung.
  * are major detrivores in the subtropical and tropical regions. Their recycling of wood and other plant matter is very important for ecology
* abound year round in soils and woodwork.
* actually eat wood and can cause physical damage.
* aerate the soil, making tunnels.
* also are an important food source for many animals that live in the forest
  - contain methanogenic microorganisms in their gut
* also develop an immune response against funge and bacteria
  - wings and swarm during the spring and look similar to flying ants
* also feed on paper, fiberboard, including books, newspapers and fabrics
  - randomly among all available food sites within their foraging area
* also have a variety of physiological defenses at their disposal
  - endosymbiotic bacteria in their guts that help break down the plant cellulose
  - four wings of equal size
  - the largest mounds of any animal except for the humans
  - nest underground in vast subterranean colonies
  - posses the necessary enzyme
  - prefer to swarm at warm temperatures
  - produce much of the nitrogen found in the earth's atmosphere
  - release methane through similar processes
  - return nutrients to the soil to be consumed by other insects and microscopic life
  - to have TWO body segments and straight antennae
* are a favorite food in tropical areas
  - major pest of homes causing billions of dollars of damage each year
  - able to digest wood with the help of microorganisms which live in the termite gut
  - actually more closely related to cockroaches and mantids
* are also a problem in the United States
  - an important food source in West Africa
  - among the most ancient of insects
  - source of food for many animals, including humans
  - arguably the greatest builders in the animal world
* are beneficial because they recycle nutrients from decayed wood back into the soil
  - in that they remove wood from the forest and recycle nutrients to plants
  - insects by breaking down dead wood and returning nutrients to the soil
  - born into their castes
  - common in forests as recyclers of wood
* are consumed by a wide variety of predators
  - people in many different cultures around the world
  - critical in the decomposition and nutrient cycling of wood
  - dark brown, black, pale white and pale yellow in color
  - detritivores , consuming dead plants at any level of decomposition
  - detritivores, or detritus feeders
  - diploid, yet are just as eusocial
  - especially abundant in the tropical grasslands of the world
* are eusocial but differ greatly in the genetics of reproduction
  - insects, which means that they are social insects like ants, bees and wasps
  - excavatory endoxylophagous insects
  - found on all continents except Antarctica
  - grouped according to their feeding habits
  - harmless to man and animals although soldier termites can bite
* are important decomposers of wood
  - recycles of dead wood
  - in every inch of soil in our area
  - insects that consume wood fibers as their primary food source
* are inside houses
* are located in apartments
  - on walls
* are more destructive than fire
  - likely to swarm in the spring
* are most likely to swarm after a rain
  - prevalent in southern Ontario and southern British Columbia
  - nature's answer to the bio-conversion efficiency problem
  - now one of the most costly economic pests
  - one of the very few insects that actually eat the wood
  - part of nature's way of recycling dead wood
  - pesky wood-destroying insects
  - potentially serious pests
  - present during both termite swarm season and non-season times
  - preyed upon for their great source of protein
  - rare to very uncommon in Minnesota
  - recyclers of trees
  - recylcers that play an important role in the natural breakdown of wood
  - scavengers of dead wood
  - similar to ants, but with straight bodies and antenna
* are small, pale-colored insects
  - soft bodied, usually pale-colored insects
  - sneaky little critters that literally eat homes
* are social insects closely related to roaches
* are social insects that eat wood
  - feed exclusively on plant material
  - form large colonies
* are social insects that live in colonies where labor is divided among a caste system
  - highly organized colonies
  - large communal nests
* are social insects with a caste system that includes reproductives, workers and soldiers
  - highly organized caste system, much like ants or bees
  - insects, which live in large colonies
  - solitary insects
  - some of the most highly social animals in the world
* are the major wood-destroying structural pests in the southern United States
  - number one pests for property owners
  - only hemimetabolus insect order to exhibit a social behavior similar to ants
  - preferred food, which is why the animal is often called the 'spiny anteater'
  - thought to be particularly important protein source for young chicks
  - vermins
* are very light-sensitive and can only survive in a dark, slightly humid environment
  - slow in growth
  - small and similar in size to ants , which often leads to confusion
  - vital recyclers in the tropical rain forest, where they feed on cellulose and soil
  - well known to reside in cellulose based materials like wood
  - widespread and produce enormous mounds throughout the miombo region
  - wood-destroying organisms
* attack almost any kind of wood
  - both soft and hard woods
* become crop pests
  - most active during the spring and summer months
* become serious crop pests
  - victims
* bite the stem and can thus be pulled out and eaten by the chimp.
* break down tough plant fibers, recycling dead and decaying trees into new soil.
* build air-conditioning vents that let cool air in the bottom and hot air out the top
  - lofty nests throughout the country
  - mud tubes
  - nests in different shapes and sizes
  - the largest nests of any insect
* can also attack dead branches and limbs of a tree
  - injure or destroy living trees and shrubs
  - be another pest that can be found in the home
* can cause extensive damage to unprotected structures
  - major structural damage to homes and other buildings as well as wooden furniture
  - severe structural damage over time
  - thousands of dollars of damage to a home
  - damage homes and other wooden structures
  - easily enter small cracks in foundations and concrete floors
  - exist in a number of forms
  - feed on wooden buildings, utility poles, fence posts, etc
  - get through tiny cracks in foundations or the calking around pipes, doors and windows
  - help to replenish the soil and get rid of fallen trees and leaf debris
  - hollow out wood beams, gut walls and reduce wood floors or trim to a paper-thin veneer
  - invade and cause thousands of dollars in damage to unprotected homes
  - make their own nitrogen from thin air
  - only exist co-dependently in a colony
* can only survive in a narrow range of temperatures
  - with the help of microbes that live in their digestive tracts
  - quickly exploit any cracks or crevices inside of concrete
  - secrete pheromones to mark the trail to food or alert the colony to danger
  - severely damage a home
  - slip through tiny cracks in cement foundations
  - squeeze through an opening as small as the thickness of a piece of paper
  - travel hundreds of feet in search of wood food source
  - tube through the gap between the foundation and the porch to reach wood
* cause billions of dollars in damage each year
  - of property damage annually
  - millions of dollars of damage to structures annually
* cause more damage than floods, fires, hurricanes and tornados combined
  - destruction to wood and paper products in Alabama than any other insect
  - significant damage
  - structural damage as workers feed on wood
* chew environments
* collect diamonds and gold to keep at the entrances to their nests
  - plant cellulose and use it to raise fungus
* come from colonies.
* communicate by secreting chemicals called pheromones
  - primarily by secreting chemicals called pheromones
* construct nests that are often structurally species-specific.
* consume cellulose.
* create a network of tunnels, foraging for food
  - nests by cementing soil and wood together with saliva and feces
  - tunnels in wood
* damage more homes than storms and fires combined.
* depend on each other for food.
* derive their nutrition from the cellulose that is contained in the wood.
* destroy buildings
  - vegetation
* develop via simple metamorphosis from egg to nymph to adult.
* die after ingesting borate-treated wood
  - by coming into contact with termiticide-treated soil
* dig the red clay, looking for invisible diamonds.
* do more damage than all tornadoes, hurricanes, fires and floods combined
  - their worst damage inside the structural supports of a house
* drop their winds to mate and then try to return to the ground.
* eat away at the rot
  - rotting wood fibers
  - cabins
  - cellulose for food
* eat dead plant material, so the nutrients in the plants are returned to the soil
  - trees and bushes, devouring the wood and redepositing it into the ground
  - lumber
  - materials containing cellulose, but the specific termite diet varies by species
  - the cellulose in dead wood, including timbers and rafters in houses
* eat the wood in which they live
  - they infest and as a result there isn t any sawdust
* eat wood and use their feces to build nests
  - from the inside out, defying detection for years while doing extensive damage
  - twice as fast when listening to heavy metal music
* eat wood, or stalks of straw or vegetables
  - wallpaper, plastics and fabric made from plants
* encounter wood.
* enter buildings
  - structures by building mud tubes up into the structure
  - through cracks in the shells to get to the fruit pulp
* essentially make up the entirety of their food intake, rather than mammalian flesh.
* even farm their own fungus inside the complex structures.
* exist in the same kind of colony as bees.
* feed in colonies
  - groups
* feed mainly on wood or other materials containing cellulose
  - wood, happily munching their way through houses and other wooden structures
* feed on anything containing cellulose, the main component of wood
  - cellulose of wood but are unable to digest it
  - dead wood material, such as tree stumps or cardboard
  - decaying wood, thereby recycling nutrients needed to maintain a healthy forest
  - each other's feces
  - live plant materials
  - plants directly or on fungus growing on decaying plant material
  - substances
* feed on the bait and carry it back to the colony, feed on it and die
  - cellulose in wood and wood by-products, such as paper
  - treated wood and carry it back to the colony
  - upon wood, including structural wood especially that which is in contact with soil
* find protection from heat, cold, and drying winds in the decaying fiber.
* fly in the spring.
* form a very significant part of the ecology of outback Australia
* frequently exchange food and body secretions as part of their normal existence.
* fumigate their nests with naphthalene.
* generally avoid light except during the mating flight.
* get nutrients from cellulose, an organic fiber found in wood and plant matter.
* go through incomplete metamorphosis with egg, nymph, and adult stages
  - six moltings, or instar stages, as they mature from nymph to adult
* harvest wood.
* has-part eyes
* have a better fossil record than most other insects
  - broad waist and straight bead like antennae
  - broad-waisted appearance
* have a caste system which includes both males and females, and they are colonial
  - protozoa in their digestive tract that can convert cellulose into usable food
  - ten-segmented abdomen with two plates, the tergites and the sternites
  - thick waist and ants have a narrow waist
  - acute survival instincts
  - an important ecological role in recycling dead plant fibre
  - broad, thick waists, whereas ants have narrow, thin ones
  - capability
  - chewing mouthparts
  - extraordinary powers of foraging, feeding, reproduction and defense
* have four wings of equal length, while ants have wings of unequal lengths
  - that are all equal in length
  - large heads with no distinct body segmentation more ribbed texture
  - microscopic, one-celled animals, called protozoa, living inside their digestive tract
  - no distinct body segments
  - relatively straight, beadlike antennae while ants have elbowed antennae
  - short, straight antennae, whereas ants have long, bent antennae
  - slightly concave antennae
* have straight antennae and two sets of wings that are equal length
  - antennae, and ants have elbowed antennae
  - bodies and antennae
  - torsos and antennae
  - the ability to change from one caste type to another during their immature stages
  - thick waists, while ant waists are thin
  - thicker waists and have antennae that resemble strings of tiny beads
  - three body parts, the head, thorax and adbomen
  - two pairs of wings that are of almost equal length
  - very gentle and soft bodies, sensible to the sunlight
  - warrior castes with spray nozzles similar to ants
  - what appears to be two, the head and body
  - wings that they shed once they have found a good place to build a nest
* help convert dead organic matter into usable nutrients.
  - the walls of our homes to feed and stay warm
* includes air sacs
  - brains
  - carapaces
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - flight feathers
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - sections
  - skulls
  - thoraxes
  - vacuoles
* infest properties.
* ingest the arsenic during their grooming activities.
* invade holes
  - residences
  - structures of all ages, old and new
* leave scent trails to guide other workers using special glands on their chests.
* live in areas
  - bark
  - colonies deep underground
  - colonies, where they work and operate in a well-defined system of order
  - dry wood
* live in large colonies and they nest, feed and forage in microbially rich environments
  - of cooperating individuals of three different castes
  - with a queen, workers, and soldiers
  - the soil under and around the building
  - underground in large, social colonies
* look and act like ants
  - larval because, in a lot of ways, they are larval
  - something like ants, only they have wings
* love habitats
* make burrows in wood
  - passageways
  - pathways
* mate for life.
* migrate to homes
* mostly feed on detritus , mostly wood , leaf litter , soil , or animal dung.
* move into homes.
* never eat across the grain and always pack everything they are working in with the sand
  - the wood of a jackalberry tree
* often attack wood that is touching or close to soil
  - fly to windows or other light sources
* play a vital role in nature
  - an important role in recycling nutrients and breaking down cellulose
* possess bodies
  - genes
* prefer climates
  - to feed on the soft grain of the wood
  - warm climates
* produce hollow sound
* quickly die from loss of body fluids if exposed to outside conditions for very long.
* receive sustenance.
* release pheromone.
* rely on alarm communication to defend a colony.
* remain hidden within wood and are difficult to detect.
* require environments
  - moisture and their sole source of food is cellulose from wood
* resemble ants and they are often called white ants
* seek homes
  - logs
* share sustenance.
* shed wings.
* simply follow eons of survival instincts by searching out a food source.
* survive by eating wood, paper, fiberboard, cotton fabrics, and other cellulose products.
* swarm annually looking for a place to live
  - in order to mate and start new colonies
* swarm in the fall, to mate and seek new colony sites
  - spring, just as ants do
  - mostly in late summer early fall
* swarm only in large colonies
  - when their home colony has become overcrowded
* swarm, usually once a year, to reproduce.
* tend to interact with most forms of cellulose wood fiber regardless of the source or type.
* thrive in moist environments and can survive above ground in excessively wet wood
  - on moldy wood
* travel from nests in the soil through a brownish, corklike tube to their food supply.
* typically live in the soil near a food and water source, such as rotting lumber.
* use pheromones to communicate with one another and to leave trails for found food
  - shelter tubes to enter structures
  - sophisticated means to control the temperatures of their mounds
  - their frass to build mud tunnels and nests
* usually feed on plant food and wood.
* work all day long and eat all day long
  - from the inside out and are very often hard to detect
+ Ant, Evolution:
  * Termites, though sometimes called 'white ants', are not ants and belong to the order Isoptera. Termites are actually more closely related to cockroaches and mantids. Termites are eusocial but differ greatly in the genetics of reproduction. The similar social structure is attributed to convergent evolution. Velvet ants look like large ants, but are wingless female wasps.
+ Burrow: Animals
  * Burrows can be made in different materials. Kangaroo mice make burrows in sand. Termites make burrows in wood. Some sea urchins and clams make burrows in rock. Burrows can also be make in different shapes and sizes. Some burrows are simple tubes a few centimeters long. Others are many tunnels and rooms that connect to each other.