An epic termite outbreak? Don't panic, deep-fry them. They're delicious!

Full text insect phobia warning, secret phobia warning!

The termites are coming in droves again!

Netizens in Shanghai said that there has been an "epic outbreak" of termites in Shanghai recently. On hot and humid nights, groups of termites flew around light sources and flew right into your face if you weren't paying attention.

Termites are out in force again! Swipe right to view

In fact, even if you are not in Shanghai, friends in other parts of the south may have witnessed the grand scene of termites gathering - they often gather under the light, flapping their soft wings in groups, looking like gray dandelions spinning and flying.

These gatherings are of reproductive termites, and they gather together for large-scale many-to-many dating exchanges .

A large indescribable

Termites are not white ants, they belong to the order Blattodea and are more closely related to cockroaches. They are also eusocial insects and can be divided into non-reproductive workers and soldiers, and reproductive kings and queens.

Termites flying under the lamp｜TOPick News/youtube

Strictly speaking, the nuptial flight of termites should be called " separation flight ". Separation flight refers to the phenomenon that male and female winged adults fly out of the mother nest and spread out when the environmental conditions are suitable. The nuptial flight is the phenomenon that male and female winged adults fly in groups to "find a partner". In addition to termites, some ants also have the phenomenon of separation flight. There are many types of insects that engage in nuptial flight, such as mosquitoes, mayflies, some dragonflies and butterflies.

The mating flight of termites is actually a means of expanding their territory and reproducing offspring . Termites are social insects, and most termites have a strict hierarchy. There are different ranks in the ant nest, such as the king ant, queen ant, worker ant, soldier ant, and reproductive ant, and their social division of labor is also different. Among them, only reproductive ants have complete wings .

Every summer, around the rainy season, when the environment is suitable, the worker ants will open a flight hole near the nest, and the reproductive ants will fly out of the nest one after another after they find that there is no danger nearby. At this time, the same species of termites nearby will fly out as if they had agreed. Most termites like to fly after dusk , and a few termites fly at noon after rain during the day. They are not good at flying, so most of them become food for frogs, birds, spiders, fish and other animals.

When termites fly away, birds are also busy enjoying the termite feast｜wildtomorrowfund / youtube

After flying for a distance, they land on the ground and begin to shake their wings continuously to shake off their wings. After that, the termites start looking for a partner. When they like each other, they will follow each other and both will go underground to build a nest, mate and lay eggs. This pair of reproductive ants will become the king and queen of the "nation". They will give birth to a lot of children and then build a huge termite empire .

Let's get together, why are you screaming?

In the insect world, swarming is very common. Some swarming insects just stay together by chance, such as many insects of the same species may gather on a plant they like to eat. Some swarming behaviors are genetically controlled instincts. For example, social insects such as termites, bees and ants stay together with other members for their entire lives. The purposes of insect swarming are also different, including finding partners, raising offspring, finding food, fighting enemies together, and keeping warm during the winter.

Swarms of termites｜Jian Yiling

Some insects go their separate ways after hatching, while others stay together for a while, such as some stink bugs. Some insects stay together throughout their larval stage, such as most moths, a few butterflies, bugs, flies, mosquitoes, etc.

Group-feeding stink bug nymphs｜Cnidaria scutellaria

Pentatomidae nymphs often cluster briefly after hatching | Jian Yi Ling

Leaf beetle larvae feeding in groups｜Lepidoptera:

Some insects, such as flies and leaf beetles, will choose to pupate in the same place.

Pyrrhalta sp. pupating on the trunk of an elm tree｜Jian Yi Ling

Many adult insects will " group date " to find a partner more easily. Some insects, such as butterflies and flies, will wait for their "lover" to appear in a specific environment. Others, such as some beetles, will release sex pheromones to attract the opposite sex.

Some insects gather together in groups during both the adult and larval stages to increase their chances of survival | Jian Yi Ling

Anomoneura mori nymphs and adults swarm｜Jian Yi Ling

In addition, some adults will overwinter in groups . In late autumn, in your warm house, you may encounter a bunch of little friends that make you "trypophobic", such as the cute seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata) and the brown-winged stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), commonly known as the "stinky lady".

Crispy fried termites

So the question is, if they are just dating, why do they come to our homes? In fact, most of them are misled . There are two reasons why reproductive ants appear in the home:

1. There are termites living in your home; 2. You leave the lights on and forget to close the doors and windows, so the breeding ants enter your home in groups and start dating.

The former is less likely to happen. If you have termites in your home, you should have discovered them when you were cleaning. You wouldn’t have suddenly realized their existence now. The latter is because the light interferes with their flight direction , and they are “confused” and fly towards the light.

Winged termites are responsible for reproduction｜Jian Yiling

If you encounter an outbreak of reproductive ants in your home, don't panic. There are a lot of reproductive ants flying for marriage, and their heads are tender, juicy, soft, smooth and plump. They keep themselves plump and white before leaving the nest, and they are very nutritious. Catch them, tear off their wings, wash them, throw them into the oil pan and fry them until golden brown, then sprinkle them with salt . The children next door will cry with greed. If they dare to do shameful things in the living room, they will pay a price.

This is no joke. There are records of eating termites all over the world. In some parts of Africa, termites are made into sauce and used as a delicacy to entertain guests. The people of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China, also have a long history of eating reproductive ants. If you really can't eat it, if you find reproductive ants at home, you can close the doors and windows and clean the reproductive ants out of the house . They don't bite, so you can safely hold and play with them with your hands.

Children in Mozambique pick up crunchy reproductive termites from the ground｜Tim Cowley / wikipedia

The merits and demerits of termites

Every time the termites fly, people panic, fearing that the house they paid the down payment for will be eaten by termites the next day. Major news media will also rush to report sensational information such as "Newly bought house is occupied by "flying ants"". This is more or less due to our long-standing prejudice against termites .

In the foreign cartoons I watched when I was a child, termites could chew furniture and houses into a pile of sawdust in a short time, which made me believe for a long time that termites are big eaters that destroy all wooden products. In fact, termites are not all bad guys.

Termites ate Tom's chair | Tom and Jerry

Termites are eating melon seed shells. Sometimes they also clean up the garbage produced by us humans｜Jian Yiling

The termites we often talk about are not a type of animal, but a class of animals. They are the general name for insects of the superfamily Termitoidea of ​​the order Blattodea. The living habits of termites vary from species to species . Some termites seriously threaten human daily life, while some termites are valuable resource insects.

The first major harm of termites that we are familiar with is "eating wood", which can harm many wooden items such as furniture, houses, and ancient buildings. In fact, termites that can destroy furniture and houses only account for a small part of termites , accounting for less than 3% of more than 3,000 termite species. After they chew on wood for a long time, they will cause furniture to be destroyed and houses to collapse, such as the black-chested Reticulitermes chinensis. These termites like to build nests in houses and ancient buildings. Once a nest is found, it should be immediately controlled .

Termites foraging for food and termites building nests in wood｜Jian Yiling

The second biggest harm caused by termites is burrowing. As the saying goes, " a thousand-mile dam is breached by ant holes ." The "ants" here refer to termites rather than ants. They build well-developed underground nests in dams, river banks, etc., which may cause huge disasters such as flooding villages and farmland. However, this type of termite only accounts for a small part of termites, with the majority being species of the genera Odontotermes and Macroterme. Black-winged termites (O. formosanus) are the main termites that harm dams.

Interestingly, these termites do not eat wood, but mushroom mycelium . They collect dead branches and leaves from the outside environment as a substrate for growing mushroom mycelium, and when the mycelium they grow grows, it will break through the soil and become mushrooms. The southwest region's delicacy, chicken 㙡[zōng], belongs to the genus Termitomyces spp., which is a type of mushroom that termites often grow. From this perspective, these termites are precious resource insects.

Some termites also harm crops and trees. They build nests in trees and even cut the roots and bark of trees to kill them, but there are not many species. In addition, termites sometimes bite items such as cables.

Although termites are "evil in many ways", it is not objective to regard all termites as the devil that eats away at houses. As decomposers, they decompose garbage in the forest and play a very important role in the ecosystem. They can decompose dead trees, greatly accelerating the degradation process of trees, allowing these nutrients to re-enter the ecological cycle and nourish a forest.

What should I do if I have termites at home? Xufang Greening Customer Service Center suggests this｜Eastern Net

Author: Jian Yiling

Editor: Calendar Girl, Yellow Line Pollock

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)