Termites are good for soil and trees...

[Saltcayman]

The New York Times reports today

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/termites-are-guardians-of-the-soil.html

And while the public may view termites as pale, blind half-inch vermin that can genuinely eat you out of house and home, only a handful of the 3,000 or so known termite species are pests to people. Many of the rest, you can thank for the ground beneath your feet, which is where the majority of termites live and tirelessly work. The closer scientists look, the longer grows the list of subterranean tasks that termites take on.

“They’re the ultimate soil engineers,” said David Bignell, a termite expert and emeritus professor of zoology at the University of London.

By poking holes, or macropores, as they dig through the ground, termites allow rain to soak deep into the soil rather than running off or evaporating. Termites artfully mix inorganic particles of sand, stone and clay with organic bits of leaf litter, discarded exoskeletons and the occasional squirrel tail, a blending that helps the soil retain nutrients and resist erosion.

The stickiness of a termite’s feces and other bodily excretions lend structure and coherence to the soil, which also prevents erosion. Bacteria in the termite’s gut are avid nitrogen fixaters, able to extract the vital element from the air and convert it into a usable sort of fertilizer, benefiting the termite host and the vast underground economy.

[FrankDrebinOfFruits]

A tree trimmer guy I know turned me onto Hugel Kulture (which is a somewhat related topic to termites and soil amending).

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

Its a debatable topic, I am trying it on a small scale 1/4 acre (mostly with mangos). Will see how it goes, probably won't know if it was a good/bad idea for another 3 years.

[bangkok]

Here we have termites who eat wood, any wood except old teak and ironwood.

My neighbours had them and could hear them munching their staircases, drywall plates cardboard, doorposts....and our houses are new.

Old wooden houses of other wood are eaten totally.

Now we have IKEA with the woodchip furniture, that's a feast for them.

Strange that those termites are not in Hawaii (yet) because they fly around. Yesterday at night we had herds of them flying to the lights where the gecko's were waiting for them in big groups. They also can come in our house and pass the window screens. They walk under the screendoors and nothing can stop them.

[DurianLover]

My neighbours had them and could hear them munching their staircases,

Really!!!???

Strange that those termites are not in Hawaii (yet) because they fly around.

That is not true. Even if it was true, you think flying to the middle of Pacific is the same as crossing the pond??!! I think just about now I stopped taking you for entertainment value.

[bangkok]

My neighbours had them and could hear them munching their staircases,

Really!!!???

Strange that those termites are not in Hawaii (yet) because they fly around.

That is not true. Even if it was true, you think flying to the middle of Pacific is the same as crossing the pond??!! I think just about now I stopped taking you for entertainment value.

Yup, if termites are in the wood you can hear them munching when it's quiet.

But of course the american experts will know it better 

Hawaii has about the same climate as Thailand so it surprises me those hardwood eating termites are not there. They could have travelled there in a wooden box or army-vessel or so. In Europe we have Australian spiders now, they also travelled there.

[Mike T]

As decomposes they perform a valuable function.The 350 australian species have only a dozen or so house eating baddies.Bangkok those thai termites are pussies what you need for bragging rights is Mastotermes. It will consume bone, live trees,leather and wood of course as it is the T Rex or the termite world.I can send a few over if you like.

[bangkok]

As decomposes they perform a valuable function.The 350 australian species have only a dozen or so house eating baddies.Bangkok those thai termites are pussies what you need for bragging rights is Mastotermes. It will consume bone, live trees,leather and wood of course as it is the T Rex or the termite world.I can send a few over if you like.

Mike termites are still a mistery to me and i like to keep it that way. Last weekend i payed 200 euro for the termite control, they sprayed under the house for that.

I read on an expat forum they even can eat concrete and also metal was mentioned. My neighbour told me they ate his tree alive last year.

You have been in Thailand as well, didn't you hear about them munching doorposts and every other wood? Then ask a Thai if you see one around.

I still don't know which termite is the woodeater, we have many of them flying around but especially after rain in a dry spell they come in big swerms. They also make tunnels underground and can eat a whole house in some months time. They like to live in abandoned houses for some reason. Here the houses are treated 4-5 times a year and build of concrete/stone/iron.

[Mike T]

There will be a few bad species in thailand and those controllers spraying water around won't do much.The tokays won't help much and the hemidactylus will only take a few.Whole villages in the northeast are held together by hardened termite saliva but a zephyr would send them crashing down.

[bangkok]

There will be a few bad species in thailand and those controllers spraying water around won't do much.The tokays won't help much and the hemidactylus will only take a few.Whole villages in the northeast are held together by hardened termite saliva but a zephyr would send them crashing down.

Well my neighbours didn't want to spray against termites the first years untill they got them in the laminated floors. Then it costed 1000 euro to fumigate the whole house and now they spray like us, 5 times a year. They don't spray water but also don't wear any protection.

Yes it's the hemidactylus (tjiftjaf) who are all around the gardenlights feasting on them.

I remember driving from Adelaide up north to Darwin and for thousands of km i saw only termitehills, billions. Looks like a huge graveyard but i wondered what they can eat there. There's nothing at all except an occasional bush.

Termites will even eat young teakwood if nothing else is around but old teak is the only thing they can't eat because of the high oil content.

Ironwood is so hard you can't even drive a nail in it, when drilling a small 3mm hole you need to clean the drillbit after every cm. That wood is so hard they can't eat it.

But i sure believe other termites are good for the soil, i must have loads of them in my raised beds i guess.

[Mike T]

Even Mastotermes doesn't dine on concrete and metal.

[bangkok]

Even Mastotermes doesn't dine on concrete and metal.

I read that on an expat Thailand page but you probably know that there's concrete and thai "concrete". My concrete driveway also rains away after a good monsoon storm. 

[KarenRei]

Even Mastotermes doesn't dine on concrete and metal.

I read that on an expat Thailand page but you probably know that there's concrete and thai "concrete". My concrete driveway also rains away after a good monsoon storm. 

It's not an issue of material strength, it's an issue of the fact that concrete is a mixture of 80% sand 20% cement, the latter being limestone that's been ground baked at high temperatures. There's no more nutrition in it for a termite to eat than a rock. It is basically rock. And add to that that it's horribly basic. It'd sterilize their gut of the bacteria they need to digest cellulose. And said bacteria can't digest steel either, even if a termite could eat it.

Termites eat wood - and for most species**, exclusively dead wood. It's what they do, their "job". And they're good at their job.

** Formosan termites eat live wood, but they're an exception, not the rule.

[Mike T]

Karen termites of course cannot digest concrete or metal as there is no cellulose/lignin.My point about Mastotermes was a joking reference as they can eat bone,ivory,leather and other materials not usually consumed by termites.They must digest keratin as well.Live fruit trees are routinely lost to termites in northern australia so the Formosan may not be alone.Termites have radiated in Australia and eat more wood.Dead leaves and grasses are equally palatable as are a variety of non woody plant materials like cloth,fruit and paper.I would say in the dry tropics more grass than wood is consumed.

[fruitlovers]

Even Mastotermes doesn't dine on concrete and metal.

Maybe the termintes in Bangkok are not dining on concrete or metal. But judging from his comments, apparently the termites have been munching on this guy's brain for quite some time now. 

[KarenRei]

They must digest keratin as well.Live fruit trees are routinely lost to termites in northern australia so the Formosan may not be alone.

True, the whole genus of the formosan termite (Coptotermes), not just the one species, can eat living wood, and Macrotermes was mentioned also earlier. Odontotermes is reported to sometimes eat live wood. There are surely others that can survive on live wood, probably dozens of species. But there  are 12 families of termites comprising about 4000 species in the world; the majority are considered harmless to living trees.

Interesting speculation about termites digesting keratin... I did some searching and came across this:

http://www.gtoe.de/PDF/Ecotropica_2007_02/Freymann%20et%20al%202007.pdf

At least one genus can! So weird picturing termites eating gazelle hooves....

[bangkok]

Even Mastotermes doesn't dine on concrete and metal.

Maybe the termintes in Bangkok are not dining on concrete or metal. But judging from his comments, apparently the termites have been munching on this guy's brain for quite some time now. 

Dude get a life!

If you have nothing to add to the forum then just don't write. Go eat some of those minifruit that you are trying to sell the seeds of. All members here know you need seeds from the biggest fruits and you don't have them.

[bangkok]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/27095-termites-active-in-thailand/

Here you can read the experience of other expats in Thailand.

An expat from Hawaii wrote this:
I am a us builder and in hawaii they spray the earth beneath the slab before pouring. yes the termites will eat a hole up through the concrete, no links, just experience. i sprayed the treatment under the slab of my new house being built

[KarenRei]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/27095-termites-active-in-thailand/

Here you can read the experience of other expats in Thailand.

An expat from Hawaii wrote this:
I am a us builder and in hawaii they spray the earth beneath the slab before pouring. yes the termites will eat a hole up through the concrete, no links, just experience. i sprayed the treatment under the slab of my new house being built

They don't tunnel through the foundation, they enter through cracks, expansion joints, or where utility lines enter. That's why one uses under-slab sprays.  Most (not all) species of termites need access to moist soil; cut them off from the earth and you cut off their ability to infest.

[bangkok]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/27095-termites-active-in-thailand/

Here you can read the experience of other expats in Thailand.

An expat from Hawaii wrote this:
I am a us builder and in hawaii they spray the earth beneath the slab before pouring. yes the termites will eat a hole up through the concrete, no links, just experience. i sprayed the treatment under the slab of my new house being built

They don't tunnel through the foundation, they enter through cracks, expansion joints, or where utility lines enter. That's why one uses under-slab sprays.  Most (not all) species of termites need access to moist soil; cut them off from the earth and you cut off their ability to infest.

Well concrete here always has cracks and is not the same quality they use for skyscrapers.

But Thai tell me termites can easy travel underground from one house to another and we have heavy clay which becomes rockhard in the dry season. My neighbour let termitecontrol inject in his garden all around the house.

After some rain in a long dry period we can have huge swarms of them. They must be waiting for the rain somewhere. Then they can fly but loose their wings after some hours and then if a couple mates they can multiply fast. You can't keep them out of the house because they walk under the screendoors but our house-gecko's will get them.