I was witness to a termite swarming event recently, during one of my travels, and managed to record some footage of the swarming termites (also called alates), which you can see below. The termites started swarming right after dusk around 7:30 pm, and swamped all the lights in and outside the guest room where I was staying.
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Archives for termite swarmers
The Termite Queen
The termite queen is one of the few creatures of the animal kingdom that demonstrate extreme physogastry or the expansion of the abdomen to an extreme size. This phenomenal growth is largely due to distended ovaries and fat deposits inside her abdomen. Some ant queens also display physogastry, but I can’t think of any creature that rivals the termite queen, in terms of size to body ratio.
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The signs of termites
One of the most common questions people usually ask is what are the signs of termites? Understandably, early termite detection is vital if you want to prevent large scale damage to your home, of which a large colony is capable of accomplishing – in a few months. But if the colony is small, or if they are first starting out, it may be very difficult to detect their presence without the use of expensive acoustic or infrared equipment to probe the soil beneath the house.
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