Guess who found some termites! Seriously, guess; you won't!

bluedart · #1 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 12:09 AM

I did! Ok, but, really. I was reading the "termite trap success" post in this thread, and got the urge to go out and find a colony. Well, I went down to our dock to take the boat out to where I found a colony last year, and as usual I checked the fire pit down there for isopods. Well, instead, I found a teeming colony! I got several hundred to start a mini indoor colony and some feeders, but here is where my story comes to my advice question. Which termites are the ones that can start a new colony without a queen, and which ones can invade houses? The ones I got were in fairly dry wood, in a wood pile about ground. They were actually in the uppermost logs. And, how best should I culture them? I've got a bunch of infested logs in a 20 gallon tall down by the pit, which I plan to start putting mini termite traps in, so I can slowly replace the logs with PVC. Thanks for the help! I may edit once I get some more research done on them myself. Adios!

#2 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 12:56 AM

Have you checked this out?

http://tinyurl.com/g56sb

I think it's the dampwood termites that can reproduce without queens. The subterraneans, I think, are undesirable for culturing and they need a queen. I went looking for some termites in my yard a couple weeks ago, but I didn't find a substantial amount.

Hope this helps.

Frogtofall · #3 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 12:59 AM

Squid, I thought it was the other way around? I thought the subterranian ones didn't need queens and were the ones that eat houses and that the wood termites had to have a queen and did not eat houses. Hmm. I need to look this up.

#4 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:03 AM

Actually, that sounds right. I think I got it mixed up.

EDIT: I just looked it up. The dampwoods do eat houses. I think I'll have a tougher time finding subterraneans.

Does anyone have pics of their "Termite Traps" ?

Frogtofall · #5 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:10 AM

Okay, I just looked it up again too. We were both wrong/right in certain spots. Here it goes...

Dampwoods- Don't need queen. Don't eat houses. Best to use.

Subterranian- Need queen, eat house. Worse to use.

Hows that? Haha.

#6 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:25 AM

Wait...so was I right in the first place? I'm confused...
I was wondering how the heck to find some subterraneans anyways. :?

bluedart · #7 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:42 AM

OK, I did my own research. http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=14641
I believe there are a few types that don't need queens. I'm just gonna see how these turn out. I believe that these are drywood termites. We only have drywood and subterranean termites around here, and both can eat houses. I've got a large culture away from the house, and a smaller holding tank in my room. Anywho, I'll see if they keep reproducing. Heck, for all I know, I've got the queen! I grabbed most of the colony and tossed it in the tank; no harm no foul, it's just contained. So, I'll let you all know how it goes. Also, if anyone wants some termites, I'm looking to trade termites for other feeders. I'm open to PMs!

KeroKero · #8 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:44 AM

"Best to culture" not best to use. Both are perfectly fine to use as feeders. IF they get loose, they are less likely to eat your house. Problem is that these cultures reproduce really slowly from what I've told, and aren't very good to feed off of due to lack of significant reproduction. Subs on the other hand reproduce like mad, but you don't want a queen near your house!

Best way to go IMO is not bother with trying to "culture" termites. If you've got a nice sub termite colony near your house, you can collect thousands of workers a couple of times over their active period during the year, set them up in the same "culture" set up mentioned before, and they'll be happy in there til you feed them out (which could be the dead of winter, but hey, you've got termites!). If they get loose, they aren't likely to start a colony (for the same reason you can't) but BEWARE OF FLIERS. These are the reproductive males and females that come out every spring, you can see the wing buds on them when you collect them, I've collected them a couple sheds from having full wings and made sure they were the first ones I fed out. If they got loose, and had some fun in the air while they are at it... *cringes* I prefer collecting them after the fliers have been out to aviod this.

bluedart · #9 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeroKero

"Best to culture" not best to use. Both are perfectly fine to use as feeders. IF they get loose, they are less likely to eat your house. Problem is that these cultures reproduce really slowly from what I've told, and aren't very good to feed off of due to lack of significant reproduction. Subs on the other hand reproduce like mad, but you don't want a queen near your house!

Best way to go IMO is not bother with trying to "culture" termites. If you've got a nice sub termite colony near your house, you can collect thousands of workers a couple of times over their active period during the year, set them up in the same "culture" set up mentioned before, and they'll be happy in there til you feed them out (which could be the dead of winter, but hey, you've got termites!). If they get loose, they aren't likely to start a colony (for the same reason you can't) but BEWARE OF FLIERS. These are the reproductive males and females that come out every spring, you can see the wing buds on them when you collect them, I've collected them a couple sheds from having full wings and made sure they were the first ones I fed out. If they got loose, and had some fun in the air while they are at it... *cringes* I prefer collecting them after the fliers have been out to aviod this.

I didn't see ANY fliers in this one, but in a colony I found yesterday (didn't collect from it) I saw lotsa fliers. Does this give me any hint to the species? There were thousands of termites in this one, but there were NONE this winter. Seem to be really fast. Think they're subterranean? I'm so confused, I find so much conflicting info.

KeroKero · #10 (**permalink**) 04-21-2006, 01:56 AM

I was told in the Mid-Atlantic (where we both are) are mostly subterranian type termites. The different times of fliers could be different species (dampwoods and subs are more species groups from what I was told, not specific species) and/or could just be coming out due to differences in temps and what not of the parent colony.

Keep an eye out on the collected termites - the fliers before they go flier are similar in size and shape to the workers (and taste just as yummy evidently) but tend to be a touch narrower and longer (like someone stretched a worker out a bit) and have small little wing buds near their heads. The last couple sheds before they become fliers this is more evident.