Drywood Termites

Drywood termites as the name suggests, feed on, and only on, dry wood with no (i.e. very little) moisture. They are able to extract the life giving moisture from the metabolism of the wood that they live in and feed on.

They are essentially the camel of the termites world, only they literally don't drink water (which camel still must) but has evolved to extract water from the dry wood they eat than storing them in their abdomen which is the reason they are so disproportionately elongated. It is also the reason they must be constantly eating not because they need so much food but for the moisture they extract from the wood without which they will quite quickly dry out and die.

They live in an inhospitable environment, so the bulk their activities is devoted to eating in order to obtain the moisture so essential to life.

Also drywood termites (notably Cryptotermes but include also some under this behavioral classification, endowed with a very long abdomen) is one of very few termites species that can literally reach and clean its own abdomen ending orifice. Most termites similar with crickets, katydids, grasshoppers and cockroaches cannot clean their own behind as they can't bend that far. But not Cryptotermes, their very long abdomen allows them to be able to do this.

They basically can't survive in a moist (high humidity) nest that most termites require, and will drown. So how do they thrive in a tropical climate when it rain literally three quarter of the total days in a year?

They locked themselves in the dry nest often in places sheltered either literally or sufficiently effectively from the rain. The nest (naturally) inside a dead tree (or the dead part of trees) usually still standing or in wooden structures constructed by humans, serves both as their food and fortification. And yes they do need water as all earthly lifeforms do but has evolved to retain (and not lose) water. Still they will drink water penetrating their, in the wild, nest from time to time.

While they also have large chambers in their nest, these are connected to other chambers by very narrow tunnels which barely just let one individual adult termite (whether the imago or matured workers and soldiers) to squeeze through.

These narrow tunnels also serve as a major defense against predators, complimented (in most cases but not all) by the heads of the soldiers evolved especially to plug these tunnels that connects the chambers. Many termites especially the smaller size species have soldiers with heads that also act as blockages of the narrow tunnels.

For their main defense against mostly small ants (which also lived in dry places but drink and store water in their gaster to compensate) such as Monomorium floricola, they use their excrement (in two main form, a dry pallet known as frass and a sticky liquid used to glue the dry pallet into a sold mass as well to stick debris and pallet to the walls of their chambers and tunnels) to block their passage ways while the head of the soldiers develop as a flat anterior (similar to those of Colobopsis group of Camponotus ants) to block the passage ways should ants somehow breached the nest.

Aside from these nugget shaped excrement, the workers also excrete a sticky liquid that glues these excrement into a solid mass in chambers they have vacated in retreat from invading predators (usually small ants that also nest in dry places which they overcome by drinking plenty of water).

The first giveaways that your home or furniture is infested with drywood termites is the droppings aka fecal pellets. These look like fine dried sand grains from where the we get the common name for these termites, 'powder post termites'. Many local pest control companies attribute this to wood borers (wood boring beetles' grubs) and completely miss this very obvious tell tale signs of termite infestation. This is probably because the workers have a maggot like appearance with relatively tiny legs and long bodies that they might be mistaken for beetle grubs (larvae) to the undiscerning eye.

Cryptotermes cynocephalus nest inside a wooden structure. Part of a reproductive, the abdomen, can be seen (right middle, slightly down).

Sausage shape workers of drywood termite, Cryptotermes cynocephalus, with long bodies, Cryptotermes are the slowest moving among termites due to their elongated abdomen. The adult alates are slightly faster moving due a slightly shorter body (abdomen) once they reached imago stage.

 Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier and worker

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier and worker

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier and workers

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier and workers

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldiers

Cryptotermes cynocephalus soldier and worker

 Alates of Cryptotermes cyanocephalus

Cryptotermes secundus

Workers and soldier of Cryptotermes secundus

Cryptotermes sp.

Alates of Cryptotermes sp. is atypical of termites alates and also termites workers and soldiers generally in that their feet can cling to and climb smooth surfaces like glass and plastic. The soldiers and workers though are not able to, and with their relatively short limbs are a clumsy lot.

See also:

Cryptotermes secundus

and

Dampwood termites

Taxonomy
No rank: cellular organisms
Superkingdom (Domain): Eukaryota
No rank: Opisthokonta
Kingdom: Metazoa
No rank: Eumetazoa
No rank (Subkingdom): Bilateria
No rank (Branch): Protostomia
No rank (Infrakingdom): Ecdysozoa
No rank (Superphylum): Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
No rank (Subphylum): Mandibulata
No rank: Pancrustacea
Subphylum (Epiclass): Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
No rank (Subclass): Dicondylia
Subclass (Infraclass): Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
No rank: Polyneoptera
No rank (Superorder): Dictyoptera
Order: Blattodea
Superfamily: Blattoidea
(Suborder: Isoptera) (this suborder/infra family/No rank appears to no longer be accepted as a taxonomy classification by most to nearly all taxonomy authorities, however I am a stubborn hold out, but what do I know)
No rank: Termitiodea
Family: Kalotermitidae
Subfamily: Cryptotermitinae
Genus: Cryptotermes
Species: cyanocephalus

               secundus

               unspecified



Last Updated: 2022 06 27
First Posted: 2020 07 07
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