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Termite Genera
Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied, unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants but highly Apomorphy and synapomorphy, derived cockroaches. About 2,997 extant species are currently described, 2,125 of which are members of the family Termitidae. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the Taxonomic rank#All ranks, epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (the cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate Order (biology), order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood-eating cockroaches of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formosan Subterranean Termite
The Formosan termite (''Coptotermes formosanus'') is a species of termite local to southern China and introduced to Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa, where it gets its name), Japan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Hawaii, and the continental United States. The Formosan termite is often nicknamed the super-termite because of its destructive habits due to the large size of its colonies and its ability to consume wood at a rapid rate. Populations of these termites have become large enough to appear on New Orleans' weather radars. A mature Formosan colony can consume as much as 13 ounces of wood a day (about 400 g) and can severely damage a structure in as little as three months. Formosan termites infest a wide variety of structures (including boats and high-rise condominiums) and can damage trees. In the United States, along with another species, '' Coptotermes gestroi'', introduced from Southeast Asia, they are responsible for tremendous damage to property resulting in large treatment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serritermitidae
Serritermitidae is a family of termites belonging to the infraorder Isoptera in the order Blattodea Blattodea is an order (biology), order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetics, genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach .... The family includes only a few species, which live in South America. Appearance These termites are much like the family Rhinotermitidae, to which they are related. The soldiers' jaws are sharply toothed on the inner side. At all stages, the mandible is strikingly sharp. The flying stages have fore wings with only one longitudinal vein, slightly ahead of the center of the wing. From this it affects numerous oblique veins to the wing trailing edge. Habits They are located in or on the ground. Their mode of life resembles the family Rhinotermitidae. ''Serritermes serrifer'' lives in the walls of the tufts of termites in the gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apomorphy And Synapomorphy
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor. ) In cladistics, synapomorphy implies homology. Examples of apomorphy are the presence of erect gait, fur, the evolution of three middle ear bones, and mammary glands in mammals but not in other vertebrate animals such as amphibians or reptiles, which have retained their ancestral traits of a sprawling gait and lack of fur. Thus, these derived traits are also synapomorphies of mammals in general as they are not shared by other vertebrate animals. Etymology The word —coined by German entomologist Willi Hennig—is derived from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humus
In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Latin word for "earth" or "ground". In agriculture, "humus" sometimes also is used to describe mature or natural compost extracted from a woodland or other spontaneous source for use as a soil conditioner. It is also used to describe a topsoil horizon that contains organic matter (''humus type'', ''humus form'', or ''humus profile''). Humus has many nutrients that improve the health of soil, nitrogen being the most important. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen ( C:N) of humus commonly ranges between 8:1 and 15:1 with the median being about 12:1. It also significantly improves (decreases) the bulk density of soil. Humus is amorphous and lacks the cellular structure characteristic of organisms. The solid residue of sewage sludge treatment, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent nutrients are added to the top layer of soil, commonly known as the litter layer or O-horizon ("O" for "organic"). Litter is an important factor in ecosystem dynamics, as it is indicative of ecological productivity and may be useful in predicting regional nutrient cycling and soil fertility. Characteristics and variability Litterfall is characterized as fresh, undecomposed, and easily recognizable (by species and type) plant debris. This can be anything from leaves, cones, needles, twigs, bark, seeds/nuts, logs, or reproductive organs (e.g. the stamen of flowering plants). Items larger than 2 cm diameter are referred to as coarse litter, while anything smaller is referred to as fine litter or litter. The type of litterfall is most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere, such as in the roots of trees or shrubs. In a living tree, it performs a mechanical-support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients among the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, woodchips, or fibers. Wood has been used for thousands of years for fuel, as a construction material, for making tools and weapons, furniture and paper. More recently it emerged as a feedstock for the production ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritus
In biology, detritus ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposition, decomposing remains of organisms and plants, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decomposition, decompose (Remineralisation, remineralise) it. Such microorganisms may be decomposers, detritivores, or coprophages. In terrestrial ecosystems detritus is present as plant litter and other organic matter that is intermixed with soil, known as soil organic matter. The detritus of aquatic ecosystems is organic substances suspended in the water and accumulated in depositions on the floor of the body of water; when this floor is a seabed, such a deposition is called marine snow. Theory The remains of decaying plants or animals, or their tissue parts, and feces gradually lose their form due to physical processes and the action of decomposers, including grazers, bacteria, and fungi. Decomposition, the process by which organic matter is decomposed, occurs in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockroaches are an ancient group that first appeared during the Late Jurassic, with their ancestors, known as "Roachoid, roachoids", likely originating during the Carboniferous period around 320 million years ago. Those early ancestors, however, lacked the internal ovipositors of modern roaches. Cockroaches are somewhat generalized insects lacking special adaptations (such as the sucking Insect mouthparts, mouthparts of aphids and other Hemiptera, true bugs); they have chewing mouthparts and are probably among the most primitive of living Neopteran insects. They are common and hardy insects capable of tolerating a wide range of Köppen climate classification, climates, from Arctic cold to Tropics, tropical heat. Tropical cockroaches are often muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusociality
Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society, sometimes called castes. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms. Eusociality has evolved among the insects, crustaceans, trematoda and mammals. It is most widespread in the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and in Isoptera (termites). A colony has caste differences: queens and reproductive males take the roles of the sole reproducers, while soldiers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritivore
Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants that eat detritus or carry out coprophagy. By doing so, all these detritivores contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. Detritivores should be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discrete lumps of matter. Instead, these other decomposers live by absorbing and metabolizing on a molecular scale (saprotrophic nutrition). The terms ''detritivore'' and ''decomposer'' are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termitidae
Termitidae is the largest family of termites consisting of 2,125 described species of which are commonly known as the higher termites. They are evolutionarily the most specialised termite group, with their highly compartmentalized hindgut lacking the flagellated protozoans common to "lower termites", which are instead replaced by bacteria and archaea. Whereas lower termites are restricted mostly to woody tissue, higher termites have diverse diets consisting of wood, grass, leaf litter, fungi, lichen, faeces, humus and soil. Around 60% of species rely on soil-feeding alone. Systematics The family contains the following subfamilies: : Family Termitidae Latreille, 1802 :: subfamily Sphaerotermitinae Engel & Krishna, 2004 :: subfamily Macrotermitinae Kemner, 1934, nomen protectum CZN 2003/small> (synonyms: Acanthotermitinae Sjöstedt, 1926, nomen rejiciendum CZN 2003 Odontotermitini Weidner, 1956) :: subfamily Foraminitermitinae Holmgren, 1912 (synonym: Pseudomicrotermiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heterotermitidae
Heterotermitidae, or the subterranean termites, is a family of termites that was elevated to family level from the subfamily '' Heterotermitinae'', formerly nested in ''Rhinotermitidae Rhinotermitidae, sensu novo are a family (biology), family of Neoisoptera, Neoisopteran termites represented by genera formerly held within the now historical subfamily Rhinotermitinae. The soldiers of Rhinotermitidae notably possess a labral bru ...''. Recent cladistic analyses as of 2024 position ''Heterotermitidae'' as sister to the '' Termitidae'', forming the clade '' Geoisoptera''. Members of this family are some of the most economically significant insects known, with '' Coptotermes formosanus'' in particular costing an estimated >$2.2 billion in annual damages within the United States alone. They primarily feed through the soil-wood interface, foraging for food through the soil and mud tubes. The nests of most species are typically diffuse subterranean galleries and tunnels, however '' Cop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
