# Guess who found some termites! Seriously, guess; you won't!



## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

I did! Ok, but, really. I was reading the "termite trap success" post in this thread, and got the urge to go out and find a colony. Well, I went down to our dock to take the boat out to where I found a colony last year, and as usual I checked the fire pit down there for isopods. Well, instead, I found a teeming colony! I got several hundred to start a mini indoor colony and some feeders, but here is where my story comes to my advice question. Which termites are the ones that can start a new colony without a queen, and which ones can invade houses? The ones I got were in fairly dry wood, in a wood pile about ground. They were actually in the uppermost logs. And, how best should I culture them? I've got a bunch of infested logs in a 20 gallon tall down by the pit, which I plan to start putting mini termite traps in, so I can slowly replace the logs with PVC. Thanks for the help! I may edit once I get some more research done on them myself. Adios!


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2006)

Have you checked this out? 

http://tinyurl.com/g56sb

I think it's the dampwood termites that can reproduce without queens. The subterraneans, I think, are undesirable for culturing and they need a queen. I went looking for some termites in my yard a couple weeks ago, but I didn't find a substantial amount.

Hope this helps.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Squid, I thought it was the other way around? I thought the subterranian ones didn't need queens and were the ones that eat houses and that the wood termites had to have a queen and did not eat houses. Hmm. I need to look this up.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2006)

Actually, that sounds right. I think I got it mixed up.

EDIT: I just looked it up. The dampwoods do eat houses. I think I'll have a tougher time finding subterraneans. 

Does anyone have pics of their "Termite Traps" ?


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Okay, I just looked it up again too. We were both wrong/right in certain spots. Here it goes...

Dampwoods- Don't need queen. Don't eat houses. Best to use.

Subterranian- Need queen, eat house. Worse to use.

Hows that? Haha.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2006)

Wait...so was I right in the first place? I'm confused...
I was wondering how the heck to find some subterraneans anyways. :?


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

OK, I did my own research. http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=14641
I believe there are a few types that don't need queens. I'm just gonna see how these turn out. I believe that these are drywood termites. We only have drywood and subterranean termites around here, and both can eat houses. I've got a large culture away from the house, and a smaller holding tank in my room. Anywho, I'll see if they keep reproducing. Heck, for all I know, I've got the queen! I grabbed most of the colony and tossed it in the tank; no harm no foul, it's just contained. So, I'll let you all know how it goes. Also, if anyone wants some termites, I'm looking to trade termites for other feeders. I'm open to PMs!


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

"Best to culture" not best to use. Both are perfectly fine to use as feeders. IF they get loose, they are less likely to eat your house. Problem is that these cultures reproduce really slowly from what I've told, and aren't very good to feed off of due to lack of significant reproduction. Subs on the other hand reproduce like mad, but you don't want a queen near your house! 

Best way to go IMO is not bother with trying to "culture" termites. If you've got a nice sub termite colony near your house, you can collect thousands of workers a couple of times over their active period during the year, set them up in the same "culture" set up mentioned before, and they'll be happy in there til you feed them out (which could be the dead of winter, but hey, you've got termites!). If they get loose, they aren't likely to start a colony (for the same reason you can't) but BEWARE OF FLIERS. These are the reproductive males and females that come out every spring, you can see the wing buds on them when you collect them, I've collected them a couple sheds from having full wings and made sure they were the first ones I fed out. If they got loose, and had some fun in the air while they are at it... *cringes* I prefer collecting them after the fliers have been out to aviod this.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

KeroKero said:


> "Best to culture" not best to use. Both are perfectly fine to use as feeders. IF they get loose, they are less likely to eat your house. Problem is that these cultures reproduce really slowly from what I've told, and aren't very good to feed off of due to lack of significant reproduction. Subs on the other hand reproduce like mad, but you don't want a queen near your house!
> 
> Best way to go IMO is not bother with trying to "culture" termites. If you've got a nice sub termite colony near your house, you can collect thousands of workers a couple of times over their active period during the year, set them up in the same "culture" set up mentioned before, and they'll be happy in there til you feed them out (which could be the dead of winter, but hey, you've got termites!). If they get loose, they aren't likely to start a colony (for the same reason you can't) but BEWARE OF FLIERS. These are the reproductive males and females that come out every spring, you can see the wing buds on them when you collect them, I've collected them a couple sheds from having full wings and made sure they were the first ones I fed out. If they got loose, and had some fun in the air while they are at it... *cringes* I prefer collecting them after the fliers have been out to aviod this.


I didn't see ANY fliers in this one, but in a colony I found yesterday (didn't collect from it) I saw lotsa fliers. Does this give me any hint to the species? There were thousands of termites in this one, but there were NONE this winter. Seem to be really fast. Think they're subterranean? I'm so confused, I find so much conflicting info.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I was told in the Mid-Atlantic (where we both are) are mostly subterranian type termites. The different times of fliers could be different species (dampwoods and subs are more species groups from what I was told, not specific species) and/or could just be coming out due to differences in temps and what not of the parent colony.

Keep an eye out on the collected termites - the fliers before they go flier are similar in size and shape to the workers (and taste just as yummy evidently) but tend to be a touch narrower and longer (like someone stretched a worker out a bit) and have small little wing buds near their heads. The last couple sheds before they become fliers this is more evident.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

KeroKero said:


> I was told in the Mid-Atlantic (where we both are) are mostly subterranian type termites. The different times of fliers could be different species (dampwoods and subs are more species groups from what I was told, not specific species) and/or could just be coming out due to differences in temps and what not of the parent colony.
> 
> Keep an eye out on the collected termites - the fliers before they go flier are similar in size and shape to the workers (and taste just as yummy evidently) but tend to be a touch narrower and longer (like someone stretched a worker out a bit) and have small little wing buds near their heads. The last couple sheds before they become fliers this is more evident.


Ok, thanks. I'll just put a lid on both my indoor feeder tank and the outdoor culture. Think that'd make them breed and lay eggs in the tanks?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Are you talking about the fliers? You don't want them, and you don't want to open those cultures while they are still alive.

Otherwise, you've basically got the same problem as trying to culture black soldier flies/pheonix worms - they need a lot of flying space to be able to do their mating flights and what not thats hard to impossible to do indoors. Putting a lid on your tank will only keep them from flying around your house, they won't mate and reproduce, and if they are subs, you really don't want fliers or a queen anywhere near your house anyways (much less dozens of potential queens).


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

KeroKero said:


> Are you talking about the fliers? You don't want them, and you don't want to open those cultures while they are still alive.
> 
> Otherwise, you've basically got the same problem as trying to culture black soldier flies/pheonix worms - they need a lot of flying space to be able to do their mating flights and what not thats hard to impossible to do indoors. Putting a lid on your tank will only keep them from flying around your house, they won't mate and reproduce, and if they are subs, you really don't want fliers or a queen anywhere near your house anyways (much less dozens of potential queens).


Ok. Will these reproduce without a queen, though? I know there are some that can...


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

From what I've read subterraneans can reproduce without the queen(primary reproductives). They use what are called secondary reproductives to continue the colony when the queen dies. Basically if for some reason you missed the queen chances are very good you will have some of these(look for slightly bigger termites with elongated bodies). Babies caught could perhaps turn into these and thus forward your colony. 

http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/b-6080.html


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If you have subterraneans, the risk of fliers being able to set up shop in the house is very slight unless they can get into a spot where there is enough moisture that they won't dehydrate.. 

Ed


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

Ed said:


> If you have subterraneans, the risk of fliers being able to set up shop in the house is very slight unless they can get into a spot where there is enough moisture that they won't dehydrate..
> 
> Ed


Thanks, that's really reassuring. I actually just got back from the outdoor tank I stuck all the wood in, snooped around, and saw a few with wings. I'll leave the cover off though. I think I'm going to leave them alone for a while, because I've got a few film canisters with wood/termites in them, so that'll last me a while. I'll feed only termites until I run out, and then go back to fruitflies. My frogs should love me. Alot. It's pretty much hell separating them from the tiny wood chips. ARG.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

eastern subterraneans have black fliers in early spring, they dont need a queen as a good # of the colony are supplementary reproductives. ive been garbage can culturing them for years. havent had to use them much and there are millions in there. i havent had any fliers since ive been keeping them indoors at stable temps. back in the day i came home to hundreds of fliers trying to get out of the windows(dont tell my mom though) and proceeded to vaccuum them all up. her house is still standing. if they got out in the basement though, look out. too damp and they could set up shop. dont feed too many to your breeders though as they are not that nutritious. it`d be like feeding a pregnant human just chocolate during there whole pregnancy.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

frogfarm said:


> eastern subterraneans have black fliers in early spring, they dont need a queen as a good # of the colony are supplementary reproductives. ive been garbage can culturing them for years. havent had to use them much and there are millions in there. i havent had any fliers since ive been keeping them indoors at stable temps. back in the day i came home to hundreds of fliers trying to get out of the windows(dont tell my mom though) and proceeded to vaccuum them all up. her house is still standing. if they got out in the basement though, look out. too damp and they could set up shop. dont feed too many to your breeders though as they are not that nutritious. it`d be like feeding a pregnant human just chocolate during there whole pregnancy.


They sometimes beat you if you don't give them chocolate, though...


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## stchupa (Apr 25, 2006)

contumacios workers will become infertile queens if no standard queen is present. regardless of how many you start with they will produce insobordinately given time and can chew through acrylic and most every other plastic. if they are found indiginously in your region I would back off because there's no saying except you, what may lie in the foundation of your house, all they need to sustain thmselves and future colonies is a small access to a moist inviroment (soil).


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## josh raysin (Nov 28, 2005)

glad to see someone read my post about the termites.  i kept them in roofing nail bins which are made of think plastic with locking lids. i offered them cardboard to sustain them and kept small pieces of wood to shake them off to feed the frogs. i kept a few thousand for months as i slowly fed them out. they will produce fliers though in these cramped conditions. also i wouldnt openly post too much about selling/trading. i found out they are tightly controlled and require a permit to ship and some states require a permit to receive them as well as ship. just be carefull. later josh


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## Cyrusrom (May 29, 2012)

Frogtofall said:


> Okay, I just looked it up again too. We were both wrong/right in certain spots. Here it goes...
> 
> Dampwoods- Don't need queen. Don't eat houses. Best to use.
> 
> ...


No, you got it wrong. All if not most species of termites can reproduce with out queens. Here are the best to use , Zootermopsis( Dampwood termites), Cryptotermes( Drywood termites), Subteranean termites (coptotermes, reticuletermes and some species of macrotermes), Macrotermes( mound building), and Nasutitermes. But most species are good. First size them. If they are tiny, do an ant testtube setup, get a test tube add water half way maybe 1/2 and then use a cotton and push it to block the water. make sure a little comes out and put it upside down and shake it to get any excess water out. Get a small twig and soak it in water and put it in the test tube. Then add maybe 30-50 termites. If they are big, get a plastic round container and stack 2 peices of cardboard. Then for their food, either add a few peices of wood near the cardboard or use some peices of cardboard diagonal. Make sure that all cardboard or wood is soaked. You could also just a a strip of cardboard in the test tube setup. For the test tube setup just add a cotton to block them from escaping. If you used the plastic container setup just close it tightly. Mist the plastic container every day once. You could also search in google culturing termites. Every one in the internet calls it culturing termites.


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## BR5 (Dec 7, 2009)

I'm in the process of experimenting with termites and found that an excellent source is the pest control guys. My wife works with one and he set me up with two groups in just a couple of weeks. I put them in sterilite containers filled with about 1-1/2" of ABG mix I pulled from an old tank and added some cardboard on top as food. From what I can tell he only put several hundred in there but within 24 hours the underneath side looked like miniature arteries streaming with termites, kind of scary in the house. After about a week they were building mud tubes up the sides; and guess what, a sterilite container is not tight enough, found several crawling around, penalty for escaping is the azureus tank. I’m going on about a month now and both micro colonies are doing well. I talked to the Dr. of entomology at Purdue and he told me they were quite easy to raise.

Brian


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

BR5 said:


> After about a week they were building mud tubes up the sides; and guess what, a sterilite container is not tight enough, found several crawling around, penalty for escaping is the azureus tank.


Wow, scary thought of those guys getting loose around the home and doing what termites do.... Do you have your cultures set up on mite paper or something else to keep unwanted things from getting in or out of the culture?


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## BR5 (Dec 7, 2009)

hypostatic said:


> Wow, scary thought of those guys getting loose around the home and doing what termites do.... Do you have your cultures set up on mite paper or something else to keep unwanted things from getting in or out of the culture?


No, from talking with the termite guy and the professor at Purdue they can't last long without moisture and or damp wood. For now I'm knocking down their mud tubes and will eventually transfer them to another container, I may just store them in a larger container with an 1" of water though.


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