"Wood" You Want Termites?

     Termites are the translucent insects that are notorious for causing damage to wooden structures.  Although they mainly eat soil, grass or other kinds of wood, they eat dry wood- the wood mostly used in making houses.  They also eat paper, cloth, and carpet.
     There are different kinds of termites in a colony.  There are queens, kings (males), soldiers, and workers.  The queens are female termites that have flown, mated, and are producing eggs.  A king is a male who has mated, flown and stays with the queen.  There may be multiple pairs of mating termites.  Worker termites retrieve food for the colony, store the food, and maintain the nest.  They are responsible for the digestion of celluse (the plant matter in the 'foods' above) with special enzymes.  The soldiers, are the defense of the colony.  They have enlarged jaws, larger heads and are blind.  They use their large heads to block tunnels from intruding, use their jaws to bite at ants and shoot a 'glue' at the ants.
     Termites are social creatures that live in mounds of dirt or in nests.  The mounds provide shade in hot climates.
     As you can see, termites are amazing organisms that work together to maintain a colony-wide bond.  Maybe we can learn from their behavior.

Information courtesy of http://www.wikipedia.com/