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The termites do have a preference to the type of wood that they like to consume. The termites are most likely to eat wood that is not tainted with repellent chemicals in the wood. The termites are also more likely to consume wood from which the colony has developed. The Douglas fir is the most popular wood that the termites like to consume.
Drywood termites have an adaptive mechanism for conserving water. Undigested matter in the alimentary canal passes through specialized rectal glands in the hindgut. These glands reabsorb water from the feces. They can tolerate dry conditions for long periods of time, receiving all of the moisture they need from the wood they live in and consume.
A termite king and queen do not mate until they find such a spot. When they do, they excavate a chamber big enough for both, close up the entrance and proceed to mate. [98] After mating, the pair may never surface again, spending the rest of their lives in the nest. Nuptial flight time varies in each species.
Physogastrism or physogastry is a characteristic of certain arthropods (mostly insects and mites), where the abdomen is greatly enlarged and membranous. The most common examples are the "queens" of certain species of eusocial insects such as termites, bees and ants, in which the abdomen swells in order to hold enlarged ovaries, thus increasing fecundity.
[1] The queen, a mated female, is monogamous, and will lay her eggs in spurts followed by periods of inactivity. [8] Egg production in termite queens is positively correlated with the size of the queen who then becomes wingless after her Nuptial flight. [2] Termite queens are able to live for decades with the longest recorded length of 28.5 ...
Soldiers and nymphs of a Kalotermes flavicollis colony. There are four castes of these termites, the nymphs (sizes varies from 4 to 6 mm, color is white or creamy), the larvae (translucent and smaller than the nymphs), the soldiers (whitish, with prominent brown heads and strong mandibles, length of about 8 mm) and the breeding adults.
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Macrotermes bellicosus is a species of Macrotermes.The queens are the largest amongst known termites, measuring about 4.2 inches (110 mm) long when physogastric. The workers average 0.14 in (3.6 mm) in length and soldiers are slightly larger.