Tag: molting

Closeup overhead view of a soldier Asian subterranean termite on a light gray background. Termite body is slightly tear-drop shaped and light yellowish brown in color. Its head is nearly as large as its body, also tear-drop shaped but darker honey brown in color with two long reddish brown mouthparts extending forward from its face.

Nitro-Nosh: Why Termites’ Molted Exoskeletons Never Go to Waste

Termites’ wood-heavy diet offers little nitrogen, a critical nutrient for growth and reproduction. But their exoskeletons are nitrogen rich, and new research shows that eating shed exoskeletons after molting is a core strategy for recycling nitrogen throughout the termite colony and boosting the queen’s egg-laying.

Entomology Today March 9, 2023 1 Comment

Killing It In The Egg: A Termite Bait Story

Termite baits can wipe out a colony in about 90 days, but the colony's eggs are gone by day 30. Why? A new study investigates and fills in a missing piece of the puzzle in understanding how termite colonies collapse when exposed to a chitin synthesis inhibitor.

Bait-Stricken Termites Still Heed Call to Molt in Their Central Nest

A recent study at the University of Florida found that termites baited with an insecticide known as a chitin synthesis inhibitor will still follow their natural compulsion to return to their central nest to molt, an important factor in the efficacy of such baits.

Study Offers Further Evidence of Bed Bugs’ Ability to Transmit Chagas Disease Pathogen

Researchers at New Mexico State University have found that bed bugs are capable of hosting the pathogen that causes Chagas disease for up to 97 days, and the pathogen can persist even through the bed bug's molting process.

For Termites, Home is Where the Molt Is

Formosan subterranean termites have a strong urge to return to their central nest when it's time to molt.