''Coptotermes heimi'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
in the family
Rhinotermitidae. It is found in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and lives wholly underground.
Distribution and habitat
''Coptotermes heimi'' occurs in Pakistan, the Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and in Bangladesh.
[ It is a serious ]pest
Pest or The Pest may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns
** Weed, a plant considered undesirable
* Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection
** ...
in both agricultural and urban areas, but being a subterranean termite, its presence is not always apparent. Besides attacking logs and structuralt timbers, it can attack living trees, hollowing out the centre.
Ecology
''Coptotermes heimi'' make subterranean tunnels in order to forage for suitable food sources. If the surface soil is either too hot or too cold, the termites move deeper into the soil, but when conditions are equable, the foraging tunnels are about beneath the surface. The direction in which the termites dig the tunnels is influenced by the humidity of the soil, and the presence of rotten wood also acts as an attractant. Many termites work together to dig the tunnels, each individual carrying a single mouthful of soil. Similarly, when a food source is found, each termite carries a mouthful of food along the pre-existing tunnel back to the nest.
The termites feed on the bark and soft parts around the base of trees, and the stems of sugarcane. The ground-dwelling assassin bug '' Acanthaspis quinquespinosa'' is a voracious predator of ''Coptotermes heimi''. When the termites are numerous, each assassin bug can kill forty termites a day.cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...
. In feeding trials, it was found that ''Coptotermes heimi'' preferentially fed on '' Populus euramericana'' when it was available and only consumed ''Syzygium cumini
''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...
'' when no other woods were available. Intermediate between these were in decreasing order of choice; ''Ailanthus excelsa
''Ailanthus excelsa'', commonly known as tree of heaven, is a large deciduous tree found in India and Sri Lanka. In Tamil, it is also known as Pi-Nari Maram due to its disagreeable odor. The trees are grown along the edges of fields and rivers to ...
'', ''Azadirachta indica
''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus ''Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afri ...
'', '' Pinus roxburghii'', ''Butea monosperma
''Butea monosperma'' is a species of '' Butea'' native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the South Asia and Southeast Asia, ranging across
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysi ...
'', ''Morus alba
''Morus alba'', known as white mulberry, common mulberry and silkworm mulberry, is a fast-growing, small to medium-sized mulberry tree which grows to tall. It is generally a short-lived tree with a lifespan comparable to that of humans, although ...
'', ''Bauhinia variegata
''Bauhinia variegata'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to an area from China through Southeast Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Common names include orchid tree (though not belonging to the family O ...
'', '' Albizia lebbeck'', ''Dalbergia sissoo
''Dalbergia sissoo'', known commonly as North Indian rosewood or ''shisham'', is a fast-growing, hardy, deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian subcontinent and southern Iran. ''D. sissoo'' is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leav ...
'', ''Heterophragma adenophyllum
''Heterophragma'' is a genus of two species of tree, constituting part of the plant family Bignoniaceae.
The species are found in Southeast Asia and India.
Naming and classification
''Heterophragma'' is part of the Palaeotropical Clade of the B ...
'', '' Erythrina suberosa'', '' Cassia fistula'', '' Tectona grandis'', '' Mangifera indica'', ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis
''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...
'', ''Jacaranda mimosifolia
''Jacaranda mimosifolia'' is a sub-tropical tree native to south-central South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its attractive and long-lasting violet-colored flowers. It is also known as the jacaranda, blue jacaranda, ...
'' and ''Bambusa bambos
''Bambusa bambos'', the giant thorny bamboo, Indian thorny bamboo, spiny bamboo, or thorny bamboo, is a species of clumping bamboo native to southern Asia (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indochina). It is also naturalized in Seychelles, Centra ...
''.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q101987257
Termites