WEBVTT - Termites: They Bore But They Aren't Boring 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to you Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:13.000 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:15.560 and there's Charles w Chuck Bryant, there's Jerry So it's 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:19.239 stuff you should know, how d Hey, hey, this is 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:25.239 a fan recommendation. Really. Yes. Aaron Mullins from the Max 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:29.480 Funcan Cruise that I went on last year. Uh works 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:33.760 with termites. I believe, like a termite circus. Yeah, he 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.080 runs a termite circus. No, but he said, he said, dude, 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:38.599 you got it. You should do termites. He said they're 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.080 really fascinating. They are pretty fascinating. And I said, yeah, 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.760 we'll get to it, buddy, and uh, here we are. 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.160 So Aaron Mullins, this one's for you. Way to go. Mullins. Yeah, 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.720 this is a good suggestion. I mean it's termites. I 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.040 can't tell you how many people went, I'm not listening 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.240 to that one. Well, they just lost out. And all 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.880 of you, dear listeners, the ones who are hearing our 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:01.920 voices talk about termites, you are very blessed. Yeah, it was, 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:04.840 you know, the fact of the podcast thing that we 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:06.800 like to do. I had a hard time picking out 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:11.080 like five or six don't give them away. Let's just 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.800 take him in striy it. Huh, it's a chuck. Are 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.080 you familiar with this one. He's not gonna have a 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.319 good intro. I got a good intro. As a matter 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:23.880 of fact, this is a Tracy Wilson joint. She had 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:26.360 a pretty good intro. She points out that termites are 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:32.119 kind of paradoxes, or the concept of termites is a paradox, 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:37.680 and that they are extremely um vulnerable to changes in temperature, 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.040 changes in humidity. They can dry out and die. They 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:45.800 die like dehydration pretty easy. Yeah, they're not super hardy yet. 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.520 They they but they can be. They can. But yeah, 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:54.600 they can also like fell an entire house given enough time. Um. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.200 They they develop wings, some of them do. But they're 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:02.320 not really good at flying a lot like cicadas. Oh yeah, 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.559 you remember, like we saw those things firsthand, just flying 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:11.600 terribly um. And then soldier termites for example, Yeah, very strong, 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.880 huge mandibles and pincers. Yeah. Yeah, they can't even feed themselves. 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.799 Were like big babies. There's just a lot of things 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:21.760 going on termites. You think you understand them, Oh, but 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.919 what about this part? Bam, that's kind of what happens 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.240 when you look into them. That's why they're fascinating. That's 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:33.600 why Aaron Mullins. Mullins recommended it. Yeah, I agree. Should 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.000 we get into it? You know what said is there's 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.320 just gonna be an awkward pause in the podcast because 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.320 people couldn't see me looking at you, like, what's the 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.680 guy's name? That's right, we can we can tighten that 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.600 up with the magic of editing. Jerry, will you tighten 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.440 that up? No, says Jerry. Alright, so yes, let's get 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.120 into this, Chuck. Let's talk termites, all right? I guess. Uh. 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.080 Usually when we do these, um we've done cocka, roaches 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.679 and fleas and uh or do we do flease? We 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.720 did ticks? Yeah, we've done ticks for done bees. I 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:03.720 don't have we not done fleaze? We need to do that? 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:07.520 Are you sure? Yeah? Remember tis was like the most 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.200 boring episode we've ever done. No, but people went crazy 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.520 for it. It's because of the T shirt offer. Remember 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:15.000 if you've made it all the way through that, when 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.320 you've got a free T shirt instead of anyway, we 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.160 usually start with anatomy, and that's a good place for termites. 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:25.320 Obviously they are insects. And you're gonna find them. You 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.119 can really find them anywhere where it doesn't you don't 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.560 go into a hard freeze in the winter. But they 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:34.320 are most common in tropical environments, were most abundant. I guess, 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:36.880 well they make their range all the way into temperate 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.320 climates though too. Yeah. I mean we've got here of course, 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.320 and U we freeze in the winter. Yeah, but like 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.360 the ground doesn't freeze all the way through. No, no, 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.600 and not for prolonged periods either. Um, they look like 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.120 ants a lot of times, but they're not even that 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.000 closely related to ants. Well, no, they're more closely related 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.280 to coca roaches. I think that's where they came from. Uh. 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.240 And they've been around for about fifty million years rs. 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:07.160 And there are nearly three thousand species of termites. So 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:09.760 that's just a little background. We should also see termites 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.119 are extraordinarily social insects. That's how they survive. Like one 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:17.440 termite is, like we said, an extremely vulnerable organism, but 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:21.760 if you put hundreds of thousands or millions upon millions 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.400 of these things together in a single colony, they get 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:27.200 the job done. Yeah, they are social, and there's they're 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:31.279 very structured. Um, some similarities to bees, and that there 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.840 is a definite social ladder uh in there there. It's 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.400 called a cast actually for termites. And they all have 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:40.800 little jobs that they do, and they all have their 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.680 distinct physical features one from another, which is kind of 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.320 neat um. So I guess we can start with the 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:52.960 reproducers or reproductives, the egg layers. Right in in any colony, 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.240 you have one king and one queen, and they're um 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.520 easily distinguishable from the rest because they're the only ones 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:03.080 who are really dark in color. The reason they're the 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.760 only ones that are dark in colors because they're the 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.800 only ones that are fully mature in the entire colony, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:10.920 the only ones. It's crazy. That's one of the facts 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.920 of the show for me. Bam. Yeah, but the king 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.599 and queen aren't the only ones who can lay eggs 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.120 soldiers and workers, which will talk about in a second. 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.000 They're both sterile, They got nothing going on with the 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:25.240 sexy stuff, nothing, But the king and queen have kind 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:31.000 of backup support with laying eggs, their secondary and tertiary reproducers. Tertiary, 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.520 by the way, is like one of the great overlooked 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.560 wonderful words. I love that word me too. Yeah, here's 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:41.159 to me another fact of the podcast. The King and 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:45.320 the queen have eyes and the rest of them are blind. Okay, 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.240 not all of them are blind though, because I've read 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.760 somewhere else that that wasn't quite right. Yeah I did too, 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.800 man that basically, if you um develop wings, what is 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.800 it an ally um you when you develop those wings, 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.560 you all so developed eyes, You're like, holy cow, I 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.360 can see now because I got these wings. I guess 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.680 if you're gonna fly, you're gonna see, right, So I 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.000 guess at the at the point where there's just a 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.040 king and queen, there's no allies. The king and queen 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.680 maybe the only ones with eyes. And it's also possible 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:20.080 that Tracy was talking about specific species, like there's three 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:24.040 thousand species possible some species only the king and queen 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.720 have eyes and came in time. The rest the blind ones. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:33.480 That is, navigate with smell scent and with moisture trails 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.760 and moisture and saliva is big in the termite world. 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.880 As we will find throughout the podcast, there's a lot 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:45.120 of regurgitating and spitting out to accomplish their needs. Yeah, 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:46.920 there's a lot of it is kind of magical. Yea. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.119 Not only do they use it to keep their eggs moist, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.719 they salivate on their eggs. They also use it for 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:57.400 things like building, um, shoring up the interior of their 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:01.360 little you know, caves and tunnels. Yeah, filling their entire mounds. 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.680 They used their spit for that too. It's magic stuff. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.840 So that's the reproductives. Oh and you also, um you 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.000 mentioned um that they navigate the ones that can't see 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.880 navigate through scent using pheromones and um, the king and 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.360 queen produce a certain type of pheromone. Uh that kind 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:25.480 of controls how the colonies population is at any given time. Yeah, 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.680 it's really amazing. Like if they need and beats were 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.480 sort of like this too. If they need more soldiers 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:36.120 than they uh deposit the pheromone that makes more soldiers. 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.800 They need more workers than they're gonna use the pheromone, 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.680 pheromone that makes more workers. Right. The awesome difference though, 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.760 was with bees, they went through and either laid an 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.720 egg that had been fertilized with sperm to make a male, 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.600 or else they laid an egg that wasn't fertilized to 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:55.080 make a female, And that's how they made different kinds 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:59.760 of bees with termites. A termite I actually regress in development, 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.400 go back to the starting point to become a nymph 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.760 again or a larva, I think, and then start over 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.200 and then moll and go from maybe being a worker 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.120 to a soldier or something. It's pretty cool. It's depending. 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.720 It's all carried out by pheromones. So let's talk about soldiers. Yeah, 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.880 they are obviously named so because they are the defenders 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:25.160 of the nest and um, their invaders. And when I 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:27.440 say defenders, they're not gonna be like fight off a 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.840 bat or an art park. They're gonna lose that. But 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.559 they can defend against other termites and ants and things 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:39.560 like that. And um, what's his name, Aaron Mullins. Mullins 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:42.760 was right to say that termites are fascinating because there's 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.800 some stuff that wasn't in this article about soldiers. So 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:50.320 we said that termites are extremely social. There's so social 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:56.240 that they actually display suicidal behavior that benefits the colony. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.680 So some workers and some species developed this blue sack 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:04.959 filled with this blue toxic fluid. And as they age, 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:09.280 they kind of lose their purpose socially speaking. They can't 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.200 harvest as much stuff like everybody kind of you know. 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.160 The big difference is that when we age, we don't 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.920 come across a an attacker and kill ourselves by um 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.960 blowing the sack up and spraying the attacker with toxic 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:26.520 So when they don't have their purpose anymore, they could 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:28.320 like fall on the sword for the sick of the colony. 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.199 And there's another kind that's the soldier that's really good 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:37.080 at pooping, and they shoot their poop onto enemies, really, 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.439 which is a pretty that's pretty amazing. You're gonna be 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.400 hard pressed to find too many other bugs that can 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:46.400 accurately aim and shoot their poop and board off other enemies. 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.760 Those are termines, all right, that's pretty fantastic. Um. With 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:55.720 the fact of the podcast, it ranks um. So aside 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.640 from pooping on other ones, they have the largest mandibles, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.200 which are the little pincers to battle the ants and 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.520 other termites. And their heads might be a little darker 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:08.280 than their bodies, but they're not gonna be dark like 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.360 the King and queen. Yeah, just the heads. Yeah, And 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.680 we talked about the spittle and the regurgitation. It can 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:20.360 be uh toxic and sticky like a like a trap 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:22.800 for another termite. Or just flat out kill them with 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:26.320 the toxicity. It's like you're coming into my joint. I'm 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.679 gonna either poop on you or vomit on you this 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.960 toxic acid, or explode my blue stack on you. You 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:39.400 know that's right. So then you have the workers. Yeah, 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:44.120 and sadly, the workers are exactly what you think. They are. Blind, 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.120 they're They're probably the ones you see most often if 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:51.200 you get like a rotten log or something, the little milky, 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:55.839 creamy looking dudes that just work and that's all they do. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:11:00.280 They eat wood and they poop it back out. Um. 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.240 They do have mandibles, but they're not as big as 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:06.040 the soldiers. Um. And they dig tunnels, they gather food. 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.480 They can't they babysit the king and queen, and soldiers 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:13.160 can't even feed themselves. The workers have to feed the 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.480 other termites above them. And what's cool is termites can't 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:22.320 even eat their own food. They need help from microorganisms 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:28.920 for that. So cellulose, which is the glucose polymer, very 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:34.160 tight glucoset polymer that provides structure to all plants. You 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:38.520 like that, thank you, Yeah, that's you can thank cellular. 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:40.880 It would be a big lump if it wasn't for cellulos. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:46.560 Grass is another one. It's got cellulose um and the 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:50.360 termites can't eat They can eat the cellulus, but they 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.760 can't break it down, just like we can't. We can 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:58.400 eat um sucros because we our bodies produced sucras, which 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:02.319 breaks sucrose down into g ucats, which we use for energy. Sure, 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:06.720 same thing with the termites. Their bodies don't produce cellulates, 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.240 which breaks down cellulose like we don't either. Like you 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.600 can sit there and eat wood all day long and 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.120 it's just gonna come out the other end exactly that 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.400 that same way I've done it give you splinters on 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.360 the way, right, Yeah, it's not nice. And it's the 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:21.880 same thing with the termites. But the big difference between 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.560 us and the termites. The termites have this hind gut 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:29.800 that contains microorganisms that break down the cellulose into glucose 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.040 can use it's right, And that's uh the only thing 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.640 in here I thought was a decent band name, Hindgut. Yeah, 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:41.479 that's pretty good. It's not bad. Uh. So the organisms 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:45.760 are bacteria and protozoans, and they can't live without one another, 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.000 like the protozoans and bacteria can't live without the termite either. Yeah, 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:52.920 it's another cooe. And it's not just these micro by 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.440 micro bacteria that um that they have a symbiotic relationship with. 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.280 Some termites have symbiotic relationship with the fun guess that 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.200 will well, we'll see. Yeah. I mean like they're pretty, 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:07.360 they're they're harmonious folks. That's a good way to say. 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:11.320 I like that about them. Uh. Mostly they're categorized by 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:16.199 where they live. There can be subterranean. If they nest underground, um, 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.520 they are primitive. If they are kind of like the 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.840 ones you find in the rotten log, those are primitive. Yeah. 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:28.240 The um three quarters of all termite species are higher Yeah, termites, 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.720 And it's it's not just their physical evolution, but also 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.120 their behavioral evolution. The higher ones are the mound builders, 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.920 whereas primitive termites are the ones that make a nest 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:41.640 where they're eating, like in them hollowed out log. The 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:43.160 big problem with that, and this is why they're not 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.319 as highly evolved, is that when the log runs out, 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.480 the colonies like, oh we're dead. Yeah. I was surprised 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.880 that they didn't like move on to another loger. That's 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:55.679 why they're primitive in this sense, primitive equals dumb, that's true. 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:57.680 One thing we didn't mention about the King and Queen 0:13:57.720 --> 0:13:59.480 that I thought was kind of neat too, is that, uh, 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.560 they are monogamous, and um, the queen can store sperm 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.440 in her body enough to keep reproducing without sex, but 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:10.800 she still throws the old man a bone even though 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.080 she doesn't need to. She's like, I have enough sperm, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:17.400 but come on, you know, let's let's go do it right, right, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:19.800 you know, that's probably what she said. And the King 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:23.160 is just, you know, imagine very appreciative at that. You know, 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.240 I think that's cute about them. It's going to be 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:29.200 the king. They're they're very social. Um, so let's see 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.600 when we're talking about reproduction, right, yeah, I guess we 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.560 might as well go at it. It was a pretty 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.640 that's a pretty good segway, chuck, thank you. So, um, 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:44.680 you've got an egg. Let's just look at one individual termite. 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:49.600 The termite is born an egg, and out of the 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:54.680 egg emerges a larva, and from the larval stage a 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:59.080 couple of malts go on, and you enter the nymph stage. 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:01.760 And I believe it's the nymph stage that's the real 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.320 Like this is where it's like the stem cells stage, 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:09.960 it can like any termite, there's no determination whatsoever. Any 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:13.600 termite can become any member of the cast. Yeah, like 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.840 once you're born, that can be a worker or a soldier, right, 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:22.400 or or even a reproductive so um. In the nymph stage, 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:24.480 they go through a few more malts. Say, if they're 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.560 going to become a worker, they'll maybe once if they 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.000 mold another time. After that they can become a soldier. 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.920 I'm not quite sure exactly what process it takes place 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.200 for them to become a reproductive because obviously some sort 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:43.120 of sexual um emergence has to take place. Maybe and um, 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.600 those are the three casts, and then from the reproductives, 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.960 depending on you know, what takes place, they can become 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.160 secondary or tertiary or the king and the queen. Yeah, 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.400 and like you said earlier, which is I think one 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.520 of the facts of the show for sure is that 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.520 they can go backward. And they don't like reverse aging 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.400 or anything, but it is a reverse molt, where a 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.960 regressive malt where they can go from soldier back to worker, 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.720 right they go they would go soldier back to nymph, 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.000 I think, and then to work. Yeah, you have to 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.840 go two steps back to go one step to home 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.920 base pretty much. Okay, But so there's like we said, 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:27.760 every colony has one king and one queen um, but 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.800 sometimes it's not enough, like the colony may get too big. 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.160 And so when that happens, some of the reproductives, the 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:38.640 secondary of tertiary reproductives, will start to grow wings and 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:43.160 possibly eyes as well, and that's probably pretty freaky. I'm 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.360 sure it's their life that certain way. And all of 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:47.560 a sudden they're like, whoa, yeah, these things coming out 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.200 of my bes like The fly right, you know what's 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.560 happening to you? The movie The Fly right? Okay, um, 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:56.600 yeah I knew what's you're saying, just intuitively I did. Yeah, 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.240 we did, one, implies to didn't we? Yes, we did. Okay, 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.800 that one's pretty interesting insect week, right, So as the 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.280 as your friend is starting to grow wings and eyes 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:08.840 and you're not right, You're like, well, I guess I'll 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.840 stay here. We can't see it though, at least right 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.360 you know you can hear it though? Are you growing wings? 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.880 Growing wings? Can hear it? Sounds like wings? No, don't 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.879 worry about it. But the other difference with your friend, 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.000 is that he or she is suddenly attracted to light, 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:28.720 which is unusual with termites. Light equals dried out, so 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.399 they're they're normally like away from the light, they're not 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.120 big on the light. Now they are attracted the light, 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:36.200 which means that they all start to kind of hang 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.000 out around the entrance of the colony, like what's out there. 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:44.680 And then maybe one warm day, humid day, possibly after 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.320 a rain a day that they're not going to dry out, 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:51.880 maybe after sundown, they all stumble out of the colony, 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:57.800 do some terrible flying and try to go find other mates. Yeah, 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:00.080 and that's called a swarm. And that is called a 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:04.160 nuptial flight. And uh, for obvious reasons that we will 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.639 see here in a second. And um, that's their only flight. 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.520 And it's not like they just fly around like that's it. 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:12.960 The only reason they have those wings is to kind 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.439 of get from the nest to another termite. Right, And 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.560 apparently the vast majority of them are going to eaten 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.280 bat food or frog food or whatever. Lots of things 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:28.040 eat termites. Some do survive. Yeah, And the other interesting 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:31.600 thing is one colony will swarm at the same time 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:37.600 another colony way far away, um will swarm and scientists 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.480 think that this is a way that they keep the 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.000 gene pool deep. Yeah, that makes total sense. So like 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.160 you just mate with someone from another colony, and uh, 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.840 you know it's like a tea party, right, you know, 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.600 it's like a social like a box feed dating. Yeah, 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:58.560 ice cream social social. So speed dating, you find a 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.240 little mate. A male go out, he sees a female 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.480 a late that he likes. Yeah, I don't think we 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:07.600 said a late is Latin for wing and um, they land, 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:11.000 they break their wings off. So now they're called delights 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:15.320 and they say, hey, you're kind of cute. You want 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.040 to go, like see if we can make a go 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:19.720 of this, And she says sure, let's go found a 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.520 colony exactly. So they look for a shelter. They dig 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.720 into a hole, um, and then they seal it with 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:28.720 like to set the mood. They don't want like light 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.840 coming in there. They see it with poop and saliva. Yeah, 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.320 they're poop is also they're pooping. Their saliva are really handy, 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:37.520 super handy. He's just like, let me take care of this, 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.320 like it's windy, let me go poop and seal up 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:43.280 our door right with mix it with my spit. Yeah, 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.800 maybe they's building some wood and soil and uh. Then 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.040 they have a little love nest and they mate and 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:51.840 the new queen lays her eggs. What's cute is like 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.119 this this uh, and now they're the new king and 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.600 the new queen. This colony that they just founded, the 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:01.800 first generation. They're going down kind of but not really. 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:04.800 It's kind of like the opposite of Jamestown. There's a 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:09.320 lot of birth. Yes, Um, so the the the the 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:11.680 king and the queen will take care of this first 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:15.760 generation until they have enough workers to take over the duties. 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:18.120 Then they get lazy and then they just yeah, they 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.320 go back and the queen. The queen doesn't exactly get lazy. 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:25.200 She's laying thousands of eggs every day. Yeah, the most 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:27.800 prolific um. That's like the high end for sure. But 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:30.320 it can happen well. And it takes about two to 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.840 four years for a colony to become fully mature. Um. 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:36.719 And depending on whether it's a primitive or a higher 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:41.280 termite species, there can be tens of thousands or millions 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:45.880 of individuals in this mature colony. And then eventually, uh, 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:49.399 it becomes clear that they need to swarm again and 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.480 the whole process just takes over again. Yeah, and uh, 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:54.440 the King and Queen will find out later they live 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.879 um in the deepest, safest part of their nests, whatever 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:02.040 it may be. Um. And here, I think to me 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:05.240 is finally the de fact of the podcast what queens 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.960 can live to be twenty years old? If you thought 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:11.359 that was the fact of the podcast, twenty five years 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:14.720 old for an insect I saw elsewhere six to seventy 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:18.840 really wow? Yeah, man, that is crazy. So that's for 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:21.760 the queen only. Um, but even the workers can live 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.119 two to five years, which is pretty impressive. Yeah, in 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:26.640 the insects world, Yeah, for sure. And that's of course 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:30.359 barring accident and you know, well bats and frogs, and 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:33.160 it'll be the same thing with us once we overcome aging. 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:35.760 You'll still be able to die from an accident as Yeah. 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:38.120 And I keep saying people eat them. I didn't look 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:40.600 into it that much, but it's they're definitely on the 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.840 menu in a lot of countries. Um. I think is 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:47.000 that the United States and Europe and Canada are the 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:50.840 only countries that don't eat insects in the world. And 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:54.320 if you're need to survive, I know if you've watched Survivor, 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:57.359 man uh, a termite nest is like a really great 0:21:57.359 --> 0:21:59.639 thing to happen upon. I'd be like trapped in the woods, 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:02.000 a lot of protein. Yeah, and if you're an art 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:05.520 Parker an ant eater, same deal exactly. So you've got 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:11.280 your colony and they need a place to live. They 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:14.240 don't just wander around. They're not Bedouins, right. They've built 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:18.560 a nest, but they haven't really built there home yet, 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:21.680 their shelter. They've got the house, but they haven't made 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.639 it a home kind of, but they haven't expanded it 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:28.159 into a city. They've established a house, it's down the 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:31.280 middle of nowhere. Now they need to build the infrastructure 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:34.800 and a society basically exactly. And once they raised that 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:37.400 first generation of workers, then it starts to take over 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:41.440 and the colony grows exponentially from there. Yeah. Um, their 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:43.520 nests are going to be called They all build nests 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:48.480 no matter what species. They're called termitaries or termitaria. And 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:51.680 even though they all build nests, they can be quite 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:54.399 different depending on what the species is and where you 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:57.480 find them. Like we said, the primitives are going to 0:22:57.560 --> 0:23:00.440 be living in the wood that they're consuming until what's gone, 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:03.960 and then they die and they are categorized according to 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:05.640 the wood that they like to eat, which is kind 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:11.679