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Pest Control Technical Note: Termites

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Pest Control Technical Note: Termites Pest Control Technical Note: Termites Number 7 Updated October 2013 Termites belong to the insect order Isoptera, The reproductive’s live in a central chamber in the meaning ‘equal wings’. nest where a female, or ‘Queen’, will lay many Termites are often wrongly referred to as ‘white thousands of eggs each year over her life span of ants’, however, as they are neither white; nor ants, approximately 10 years. Male, or ‘Kings’, are therefore this term should not be used. Termites are responsible for fertilising the Queens. Multiple in fact, closely related to cockroaches. reproductives are commonly observed. The digestive system of termites contains a variety The young termites develop in the colony by of micro-organisms which assist in the digestion of shedding cuticles at the end of each growth stage, the plant fibre cellulose. gradually changing until they reach the worker, Over 350 species of soldier or adult (winged form). If queens die, some termites are found in supplementary reproductive’s may carry on the Australia, only colony as neotenics. approximately 20, Reproductives are generally darker than workers commonly cause and soldiers. They damage to buildings. In have functional eyes Victoria there are five and their more robust species that cause problems to buildings and skin (cuticle) is able to wooden structures. resist the outside Although termites are generally considered to be environment. After destructive timber pests, they play important flight, unlike other ecological roles: providing nest holes for lizards, insects, the deciduous birds and possums; assisting in the breakdown of wings of termites are organic matter; returning nutrients to soil and; discarded and piles of assisting with soil aeration. shed wings are a good clue to termite Castes infestations. Termites are social insects, living and working Soldiers together within nests or colonies of various sizes. Termites take several different forms. Each form, or Soldiers have darker, larger heads than the other caste , has different functions to perform within the castes. They are blind, wingless, and have colony. They communicate by smell and touch. undeveloped reproductive organs. Alates Soldiers are tougher than the other castes and take Alates, meaning longer to die from most toxins, exposure, or ‘winged ones’, are the starvation. It is their role to defend the colony, if true adult termites. disturbed, while the damage is repaired by the They have eyes, workers. wings, darker colouring Soldiers exist in different forms. Most species have and are fertile. soldiers, with well developed jaws (mandibles) used Their wings are equal to crush attackers, such as ants. size and shape and twice the length of their body. Nastute soldiers occur in Nasustitermes species They shed after the colonising flight is made. Shed and are only rarely found as pests in Victoria. They wings are a good indication of termite presence. have a snout from which they eject a sticky solution which irritates and glues attackers. Phragmotic soldiers have a very large head which Reproductives can be wedged in tunnels to block attackers. The drywood termites, which use this strategy, are only These are the sexual forms of the colony including occasional introductions to Victoria. future kings and queens of colonies yet to be established. Department of Health Workers Lifecycle The workers account Termites undergo an incomplete metamorphosis in for the largest number their life cycle. of termites within the The lifecycle of a termite consists of four stages of colony and are development with young termites developing into therefore responsible four different castes. The temperature, food quality, for the most damage. and activity of the colony affect the interval over They gather food, which termites develop from egg to adult. groom other termites, construct tunnels and repair Termites develop by moulting or shedding their damage; in addition to tending to the Kings, outer cuticle once a growth period ceases. The Queens, and their young. These termites are Queen adds a new set of ovaries at each moult, her believed to work 24 hours a day throughout their 4- abdomen eventually becomes quite large, a year life span. condition referred to as physogastry. Worker termites are generally unpigmented. They Shortages of a particular caste create a hormonal are blind, wingless and have undeveloped imbalance within the colony. This is then corrected reproductive organs. by the development of new young termites into that caste. Eggs and young Termites hatch from eggs that have been tended by their nest mates in specially constructed nurseries. As soon as they are old enough, the young work within the colony where jobs change with age and maturity. Colonising flight Once a single colony becomes sufficiently large it produces winged reproductives which wait in specially constructed chambers until ready to leave the nest and undertake a colonising flight. They leave the nest as a swarm under conditions of high humidity, still air, and sometimes low light. Termites are not strong fliers and usually only fly up to 1km, although breezes and updrafts can carry them a lot further. Upon landing near a suitable nest site, the female sheds her wings and emits a calling scent. Males quickly respond. They dig in and over the next few weeks, mate and Habitat take care of their young until enough workers develop to take over the care roles. Termite nests and tunnels are kept moist as the New colonies are sometimes established via workers cannot stand low humidity for very long. budding. This is believed to occur when the The temperature within the nursery of a large nest extremities of the colony lose contact and become ranges between 10 °C and 35 °C but rarely varies independent. more than one degree a day. The relative humidity The Primary King and Queen are believed to emit is approximately 100%. The moisture required to hormones which suppress the sexual development maintain the temperature and humidity is obtained of the rest of the colony, however this control from the soil, leaking plumbing or decaying timber. breaks down if the territory is too large or contact with groups is lost. Page 2 Department of Health Common species The nasute soldiers of this genus are easily identified, particularly as they tend to appear when It is important to correctly identify the type of pest tunnels are damaged, rather than hiding inside like termite before beginning treatment. The other pest types. identification will help in understanding the habits of the colony, the location of the nest and will indicate Porotermes adamsoni the most appropriate method. As the soldiers of each colony possess such Our largest species is commonly found nesting in prominent features the termite species is most large pieces of timber, particularly older trees, and easily identified by examination of an individual of is most common in wet this caste. mountainous areas. This preference earns it the common Coptotermes name of Dampwood Termite. This genus of termites However, Porotermes are also is widely distributed commonly found in the dry foothills throughout Victoria. of Melbourne. They are responsible Porotermes are much larger than for more than 80% of the other pest species, but tend to live in smaller the termite damage colonies and do not construct shelter tubes or travel caused to buildings. far underground. The colony will often die once Coptotermes build discovered and dried, although remedial timber nests in trees, favouring preservatives such as boron salts are often used to eucalypts, stumps, ensure control. under concrete flooring, in wall cavities, or Schedorhinotermes enclosed verandahs. More than a million termites may be present within This genus occurs a single colony, however, half a million is a more throughout Australia but is commonly encountered maximum size. only found in the north of These termites usually travel at least 50m from the Victoria. colony in search of food via a series of underground Schedorhinotermes are destructive and relatively tunnels. nomadic, rather than maintaining a fixed central Coptotermes acinaciformis tend to recruit strong nest. numbers to new food sources and respond strongly A mature colony of Schedorhinotermes will have to baits. mandibulate soldiers of two distinct sizes, referred Coptotermes frenchi tend to explore widely for new to as “major” and “minor”. food sources and often feed lightly at multiple The major soldiers are up to 5.6mm in length while points. They respond less strongly to baits. the minor soldiers are only 3.6mm. The absence of The soldier caste of Coptoterm es is mandibulate major soldiers indicates that the colony is either with simple brown saber-like jaws. Soldiers weak or young. measure between 3.5mm and 6.5mm in length. When disturbed these soldiers eject a white rubbery glue-like substance from their pear-shaped heads Heterotermes ferox as a defence mechanism. Heterotermes are widely distributed throughout Australia, however, they Nasutitermes are not considered to be a major pest species except in the Northern The Nasutitermes are widely distributed throughout Territory. Australia, however, these species are of minor The small colonies attack fence posts, timber importance in Victoria where they are most flooring, and paling fences within a small radius of commonly found attacking garden timbers. the nest. Heterotermes ferox specialize in feeding Nasutitermes exitiosus is common north of the on small timbers on the soil surface and as a result divide. They construct are very commonly found. dark, thin-walled mound The soldiers of this species are up to 4.75mm in nests between 30cm length with long, dark jaws and distinctly long and 75cm above ground. parallel-sided heads. These mounds are generally up to 1m in diameter. Page 3 Department of Health Control methods their only method of entry, is over a designated perimeter inspection zone. Where possible, it is preferable to control colonies In practice, termites will avoid constructing shelter before installing remedial barriers.
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