''Reticulitermes hesperus'', the western subterranean termite, is a species of termite in the family

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 ...

. It is found in Central America and North America. ''R. hesperus'' is native to the coast between

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. Like other subterranean termites, they live underground, where they have elaborate

eusocial 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 wit ...

societies composed of a queen, workers, and soldiers, as well as a rotating case of sexually reproductive adults and their larval and immature offspring. The reproductive adults are the only ones with functional wings. The reproductive adults will swarm on warm days in spring and fall, particularly after a rain event, looking for mating partners. These termites prefer moist living environments and prefer to consume wood that has already been partially decayed by

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

. A similar species, '' Reticulitermes tibialis'', is more common in the interior of western North America.

Ecology

Adults and nymphs are preyed on by the larvae of the lacewing '' Lomamyia latipennis''. The lacewing lays its eggs on stumps and rotten logs and the newly hatched larvae make their way to termite galleries via crevices. Having found a termite, the first

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

larva waves its abdomen and releases an

allomone An allomone (from Ancient Greek ' "other" and pheromone) is a type of semiochemical produced and released by an individual of one species that affects the behaviour of a member of another species to the benefit of the originator but not the rec ...

which paralyses the termite in two to three minutes; it then consumes the termite. Second and third instar lacewing larvae can subdue several termites at the same time.

Ecology

See also

References

Further reading