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Tag: subterranean termites

Formosan subterranean termite soldier and eggs

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.

eastern subterranean termites (Reticulitermes flavipes)

Funeral or Feast: How Termites Manage Their Dead

In a colony of eastern subterranean termites, as many as 70,000 termites may die every day. Dealing with all those corpses is critical to colony health, and a new study reveals how the primary methods for termite undertakers—burying corpses or eating them—vary by caste.  

Coptotermes formosanus termites

So, You Want to Study Termite Control? Step 1: Raise a Few Million Termites

Subterranean termite colonies can be as large as 1 million individuals with a foraging territory and underground galleries stretching up to 100 meters long. How does an entomologist study something that large? Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how researchers at the University of Florida have raised entire termite colonies from scratch and devised experimental setups that mimic large foraging and nesting areas while still fitting inside a lab.