Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Termite

Termitoidae

Description:

Termites divide labor among castes, produce overlapping generations and take care of young collectively. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10 percent of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites may produce up to two litres of hydrogen from digesting a single sheet of paper, making them one of the planet’s most efficient bioreactors. Termites achieve this high degree of efficiency by exploiting the metabolic capabilities of about 200 different species of microbes that inhabit their hindguts.

Habitat:

Globally, termites are found roughly between 50 degrees north & south, with the greatest biomass in the tropics and the greatest diversity in tropical forests and Mediterranean shrublands. Found when I turned over a log in my yard.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

Maria dB
Spotted by
Maria dB

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Spotted on Mar 31, 2012
Submitted on Apr 1, 2012

Related Spottings

termites Subterranean termite Termite Termite mound

Nearby Spottings

European honey bee European honey bee Centipede Common Eastern bumble bee

Reference

Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team