Termites’ Experiment

Some facts about termites… wood-eating insects that threaten homes and other building with their diets. Termites eat all day long, every day. This makes them very efficient at removing dead wood from forests but also makes them very destructive when they turn their attention to buildings. Termites can be as small as 1/8 inch and as long as 1 inch Social insects: every termite colony has a social system. – The queen and king termites are at the top of the colony, and their roles are to help the colony reproduce. – soldiers with bulbous heads and big jaws to protect the colony. – workers perform other functions such as taking care of the queen and gathering food. The workers often have a creamy white color; they make up the largest group of termites in a colony and these are the termites that actually eat wood in a home or area.

Termite colony close up (6:25) termite soldiers

On your lab table you will find: A ball pen, black A ball pen, blue A ball pen, red A marker Magnifying lens Two pieces of paper, clean A brush to handle your termites A termite

What you should do: Using a blue pen, draw a shape on the paper. Start with a circle first, late you can draw any shape, e.g. spiral, 8loop, etc…. Carefully release the termite in the center of the circle. Carefully observe the termite’s behavior. The termite will soon do something that make you think!!

Your Job: Get to know your termite: What is it doing? As a group, discuss any hypothesis that explain your observations. What would you hypothesis predict and how can you test this prediction? Develop a procedure to test one of the hypothesis first. Then test your hypothesis (experiment) Share and record your observations. Draw conclusions: Is your hypothesis supported? Why or why not?

REMEMBER! Termites are living organisms and should be handles with CARE!

P_Y experiment video on youtube P_Y

Why are Termites Attracted to Ink? Termites lay trails (from a scent gland) and tend to follow each other. The scents are volatile (otherwise they'd persist too long). The volatiles in some inks are similar. Sometimes these ink chemicals are like the termite's own scent and sometimes they just smell better than the paper. If they are a good trail marker, then the termites will orientate with the ink line.

Termites are blind, so color is right out (only the winged ones can see and then not so well). The termites' environmental clues are mainly smell, moisture gradients, temperature and vibration. Many orientating chemicals are known (called "trail" or "aggregation" pheromones), it is likely that the red dye contains a chemical which smells something like one of these pheromones.