Termites

The word termites is derived from the Latin word “Termes” meaning wood worm.  They are chiefly confined in abundance in warm tropical countries and they feed on plant tissues, stumps of trees, logs, papers, posts of houses and other structures, fabrics and other cellulose materials, others defend solely on humus and fungi.  The members of the termite colony are the queen, the king, the winged reproductive or swarmers, the workers, soldiers and nymphs.  The swarmers with wings appear during nuptial flight when rains start in May or June, can be distinguished from ants by the equal length of their two pairs of wings and their waistlines as contrasted to the narrow waistlines of ants.  Ants have elbowed pair of antennae.

In the Philippines, 54 species of termites have been identified, the common species are of dry wood termites and subterranean termites.  Ordinarily, subterranean termites attach wood in contact  with the soil, but they can build cellulose tunnels to climb up buildings only to return to the soil every few hours to get moisture.  Earthen tubes of subterranean termites are:

1. The mound building termite, Macrotermes Gilvus, mostly found in the garden, they attack wood on the ground and woodwork of buildings.  They construct extensive systems of covered passages leading to dead wood and other vegetative materials.
2. Next is the Philippine milk termite, Coptotermes Vastator, considered the most destructive of all the Philippine termite species.  The workers are white in color and its so named as milk termite because the soldier emits milky secretion when disturbed.
3. The third is the Los Banos termite, Microcerotermes losbanosenses which got its name from the area it was discovered.  They attack waste lumber and woodwork of buildings such as roof joists and rafters.
4. The fourth is the Luzon point-headed termite, Nasutitermus luzonicus.  Its dark in color, soldiers have pointed heads with no mandibles.  They construct semi-carton runways and prefer to construct nests on tree trunks.

The other two species of dry wood termite:

1. Cryptotermes cyanocephalus
2. Cryptotermes dudleyi

Usually called “unos”, they infest dry woodwork of building furniture, lumber and other wood products.  Tell-tale signs of these secretive destroyers are revealed by the presence of accumulated pellet-like dry excrements on the floor.