The Times

Termites Thrive In Pleasant Places

Continued from page 25 The kings and queens have it made. They are fed and groomed by the workers, the colony revolves around them, and the queen alone lays the eggs from which the next generation is hatched. A queen in British Guiana has been known to lay more than three million eggs a year, but the output of the North American type is much more modest. Kings and queens may live for 25 years. Termites are among the oldest of insect species, well-preserved specimens having been found in fossils 55 million years old. They are kind of a first cousin to the cockroach with all of a cockroach's durability. There is just one time of year when they make themselves known—annually, in the spring or the fall, the kings and queens beat their way out of the colonies and swarm, as a prelude to mating and founding new colonies. At this time they will have sprouted wings on their long black bodies, but before they go back underground the wings fall off, and they leave them in a carpet behind them, a telltale sign. It is at this time, when they are seen, that they are easily mistaken for ants. But the ant is trim-waisted with a clearly segmented body, whereas the termite is of a piece and thick in the middle. In the past, the subterranean termite was likely to lie dormant through the winter. But as we have improved our comfort through the spread of central heating, we have also extended our hospitality unknowingly to our unseen guest. This may be one of the factors accounting for his recent northward push. There are many stories of the damage wrought by termites. One of the most picturesque is about a French family in an old chateau in the provinces who are said to have crashed, while at dinner, from the third floor into the basement when the beams, weakened by termites, suddenly gave way. Termites usually stop short of total destruction, although they have caused heavy pieces of furniture

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