Historical Research - Termite

Little notice was paid to northern termite action awaiting Dr. Glenn Esenther’s historic work in Sheboygan, Wis. His 1969 paper, “Termites in Wisconsin,” highlighted areas of termite action in the condition and gave some insight regarding termite natural science. Despite this work, investigate on termite imitation, caste formation, and allocation is still needed to make easy manage strategies.

This study updates Esenther’s early work, additional pinpointing areas of termite action in the state. Only one species of termite is recognized in Wisconsin, Reticulitermes flavipes, the eastern subterranean termite. Results point toward that termite populations still emerge to be limited to the southern half of the state, supporting the thought that Wisconsin lies on the northern frontier of termite territory. One long standing theory about termites in this northern variety is that they tend not to form the winged reproductive forms (alates) as often as their southern counterparts. Instead, frequent minor reproductive are thought to be accountable for colony increase.

For this work, we were seeking clues about how new termite colonies form. We used a heritable method that has been helpful in other inhabitant’s heritable studies to determine genetic difference within and between Wisconsin termites. Investigation of the genetic data showed significant differences among the populations composed around the state. This supports the idea that human overture, rather than opening by winged termites, was likely the origin of termite colonies in the state.

The exact triggers for settlement configuration of winged reproductives are still strange but this study afforded an interesting examination of frequent alates in the field after a chiefly mild winter. This suggests that hotness plays a role in termite wing growth. It is achievable that changing type of weather trends could allow for pattern of these winged termites, rapidly expanding their supply during the state.