1. Forum
  2. Usenet
  3. SCI.BIO.PALEONTOLOGY

  • Termites in the tropics

    From trolidous@21:1/5 to All on Thu Mar 21 18:55:36 2024
    A day or two ago I was surfing on Wikipedia interested in termites
    as pests, and wondering if there was a type species of termite.

    I could not find much but Wikipedia said there were a lot of species
    of termite and it gave examples of some wood roaches in Northern
    Australia as animals tending to demonstrate that roaches and termites
    are related.

    But it also gave the idea that termites were very common in the tropics.

    I am not sure if I have ever seen a termite before and noticed that is
    what it was.

    Basic questions. Are termites much more common in the tropics than
    in the temperate zones? Yes or no? If the answer is yes, than why
    are they more common in the tropics? Is there some reason why termites
    can not be cold adapted for temperate forests? How far toward the
    arctic or antarctic is the range of some species of termites? Was
    the Wikipedia article tending to exaggerate when it gave the idea
    that termites were very common in the tropics? Do termites tend to
    only go for fallen logs and not tend to attack growing trees or
    grass or young plants? Are they really about as common in the
    temperate zones or am I missing something when it comes to termites
    in tropical areas versus temperate areas?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From trolidous@21:1/5 to John Harshman on Sun Mar 24 16:14:05 2024
    On 3/21/24 22:26, John Harshman wrote:
    On 3/21/24 3:55 PM, trolidous wrote:
    A day or two ago I was surfing on Wikipedia interested in termites
    as pests, and wondering if there was a type species of termite.
    ...

    ...

    Is there some reason why termites
    can not be cold adapted for temperate forests?

    No. There are termites in temperate forests.

    How far toward the
    arctic or antarctic is the range of some species of termites?

    I discover that there are termites in British Columbia but not in
    Alaska. How's that?

     Was
    the Wikipedia article tending to exaggerate when it gave the idea
    that termites were very common in the tropics?

    No.

     Do termites tend to
    only go for fallen logs and not tend to attack growing trees or
    grass or young plants?

    True. Dead wood almost exclusively.

    Are they really about as common in the
    temperate zones or am I missing something when it comes to termites
    in tropical areas versus temperate areas?

    I think you're missing something. Not quite sure what.

    So both termites and elephants are the natural enemies if
    lumber companies because they both eat trees, but elephants
    are different because they can be trained to move and stack
    logs?

    Maybe not.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)