Termites

Termites (Isoptera) are plagued by bad press. They destroy the livelihood of tropical farmers, literally eat their way through our homes, and even threaten our cultural heritage, including assaults on the Statue of Liberty in New York, the ancient books of the Vatican, or the historical city of Isfahan in Iran. One estimate from 2005 put the annual damage at about US$ 50 billion worldwide, with the US alone investing more than US$ 11 billion in termite control in 1994. As is so often the case, however, the termites’ disrepute is the result of the actions of just a few, and the great majority of the over 2,600 described species are dwellers of the dark, whose pivotal role in ecosystem function often goes unnoticed. Termites are evolutionarily and ecologically very successful insects that share a common ancestry with cockroaches. Living in complex societies and being able to digest wood with the aid of a diverse symbiotic gut fauna seems to be the basis for this success story.

• Publication year

  2007

• Venue

  Current Biology

• Publication date

  2007-12-04

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.033PMID 18054770
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Death of an order: a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study confirms that termites are eusocial cockroaches

  2007cited by this paper
• Workers of a drywood termite do not work

  2007cited by this paper
• A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of termites (Isoptera) illuminates key aspects of their evolutionary biology.

  2007cited by this paper
• Thermoregulation and ventilation of termite mounds

  2003cited by this paper

• Laboratory and Field Soil Tunneling/Tubing by Subterranean Termites in Response to 2-Phenoxyethanol.

  2026cites this paper
• What kills a society: accumulation of uric acid increases infectious disease risk in termites.

  2026cites this paper
• Unlocking circular bioeconomy potential of termite-gut yeasts: dual bioremediation and biodiesel production

  2026cites this paper
• Caste-Dependent Interspecific Tolerance Permits Alien Reproductives to Reproduce Within Host Colonies in Reticulitermes Termites Under Laboratory Conditions

  2026cites this paper
• Changes of division of labour along the eusociality spectrum in termites, with comparisons to multicellularity.

  2025cites this paper
• Termite baiting—how it changed the landscape of the pest management industry and termite research in Southeast Asia

  2025influential citation
• What makes a society dead: accumulation of uric acid increases infectious disease risk in termites

  2025cites this paper
• Developing optimal bait formulations to enhance attraction and feeding in the subterranean termite Microcerotermes diversus (Blattoidea: Termitidae)

  2025cites this paper
• Conflict over caste fate in insect societies

  2025influential citation
• Convergent evolution of a conserved molecular network underlies parenting and sociality.

  2025cites this paper
• The Impact of Termiticides on Termite Corpse Management

  2025cites this paper
• Urban and agricultural areas under threat of the termite pest genus Heterotermes: insights from species distribution modelling and phylogeny

  2025cites this paper
• Chemical and transcriptomic diversity do not correlate with ascending levels of social complexity in the insect order Blattodea

  2024cites this paper
• Non-chemical management of termite pests: An overview

  2024cites this paper
• Metagenomics analysis of bacterial community structure from wood- and soil-feeding termites: metabolic pathways and functional structures toward the degradation of lignocellulose and recalcitrant compounds

  2024cites this paper
• Detection and monitoring techniques of termites in buildings: A review

  2024cites this paper
• The royal food of termites shows king and queen specificity

  2023cites this paper
• A call to termitologists: it is time to abandon the use of “lower” and “higher” termites

  2023cites this paper
• Termites infestation on different Eucalyptus wood species and control using natural oil from plants

  2023cites this paper
• Economic framework to assess the impact of banning pesticides, with application to sulfuryl fluoride for drywood termites (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) in California

  2023cites this paper
• A Review of the Evolution of Termite Control: A Continuum of Alternatives to Termiticides in the United States with Emphasis on Efficacy Testing Requirements for Product Registration

  2022cites this paper
• Virome of Three Termite Species from Southern Vietnam

  2022cites this paper
• Soil Macrofauna Abundance and Taxonomic Richness under Long-Term No-Till Conservation Agriculture in a Semi-Arid Environment of South Africa

  2022cites this paper
• Chameleon: Adaptive Sensor Intelligence for Smart Buildings

  2022cites this paper
• Historical and future climate change fosters expansion of Australian harvester termites, Drepanotermes

  2022cites this paper
• Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from land

  2022cites this paper
• How does soil water status influence the fate of soil organic matter? A review of processes across scales

  2022cites this paper
• The Evolution of Ultrasociality in Humans and Social Insects

  2021cites this paper
• The Ultrasocial Origin of Our Existential Crisis

  2021cites this paper
• References

  2021cites this paper
• Back to the Future.

  2021cites this paper
• The Potential of Termite Mound Spreading for Soil Fertility Management under Low Input Subsistence Agriculture

  2021cites this paper
• The Modern State/Market Superorganism

  2021cites this paper
• Our Hunter-Gatherer Heritage and the Evolution of Human Nature

  2021cites this paper
• The Evolution of Human Ultrasociality

  2021cites this paper
• Notes

  2021cites this paper
• Taming the Market

  2021cites this paper
• Evolving a Sustainable and Equitable Future

  2021cites this paper
• The Rise of State Societies

  2021cites this paper
• The Rise and Consolidation of State/Market Societies

  2021cites this paper
• Reclaiming Human Nature

  2021cites this paper
• Preface

  2021cites this paper
• The Agricultural Transition and How It Changed Our Species

  2021cites this paper
• Neoliberalism

  2021cites this paper
• Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages

  2021cites this paper
• Evaluation of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Productivity in Relation to Termite Attacks in Rural Area in Tivaouane (Senegal)

  2021cites this paper
• Arthropod-Microbiota Integration: Its Importance for Ecosystem Conservation

  2021cites this paper
• Marking through molts: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species

  2021cites this paper
• Termite Pest Identification Method Based on Deep Convolution Neural Networks

  2021cites this paper
• Ultrasocial

  2021cites this paper
• Index

  2021cites this paper
• No Evidence for Single-Copy Immune-Gene Specific Signals of Selection in Termites

  2020cites this paper
• Revisiting stigmergy in light of multi-functional, biogenic, termite structures as communication channel

  2020cites this paper
• EFFECT OF TERMITES ( GNATHAMITERMES Perplexus ) INFESTATION ON SPATIAL VARIATION OF SOIL PROPERTIES AND HORTICULTURAL CROPS GROWTH

  2020cites this paper
• Selected physical and chemical properties of soil under different agricultural land-use types in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

  2020cites this paper
• Insects as zoogeomorphic agents: an extended review

  2020cites this paper
• Taxonomic assessment of the termite genus Neotermes (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in the Ryukyu-Taiwan Island arc, with description of a new species.

  2019cites this paper
• Social Evolution in Termites

  2019cites this paper
• Ecological specificity of the metagenome in a set of lower termite species supports contribution of the microbiome to adaptation of the host

  2019cites this paper
• No evidence for immune-gene specific signals of selection in termites

  2019cites this paper
• Ecological specificity of the metagenome in a set of lower termite species supports contribution of the microbiome to adaptation of the host

  2019cites this paper
• A rapid survey of the arboreal termites in a university environment in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

  2019cites this paper
• Comparative study with scanning electron microscopy on the antennal sensilla of two main castes of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattaria:Rhinotermitidae).

  2019cites this paper
• Morphogenesis of termite mounds

  2019cites this paper
• Termite Ecology in the First Two Decades of the 21st Century: A Review of Reviews

  2019cites this paper
• The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Coptotermes ‘suzhouensis’ (syn. Coptotermes formosanus) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) and Molecular Phylogeny Analysis

  2018cites this paper
• Influence of some plant oils Eugenia caryophyllata, Elettaria cardamomum and Citrus sinensis on the termite species Coptotermes heimi.

  2018cites this paper
• Behavioural repertoire of termites in corpse management: A comparison between one-piece and multiple-pieces nesting termite species.

  2018cites this paper
• The Drivers of Heuristic Optimization in Insect Object Manufacture and Use

  2018cites this paper
• Efects of Usnic, Barbatic and Fumarprotocetraric acids on Survival of Nasutitermes corniger (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae)

  2018cites this paper
• Effects of nanostructured essential oils against subterranean termites (Coptotermes gestroi)

  2018cites this paper
• Local, regional, and global patterns of woodpecker (Picidae) diversity: ecological explanations and practical applications

  2018cites this paper
• Distribution of Karyotypes of the Cryptocercus punctulatus Species Complex (Blattodea: Cryptocercidae) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

  2017cites this paper
• Sub-lethal effects of essential oil of Lippia sidoides on drywood termite Cryptotermes brevis (Blattodea: Termitoidea).

  2017cites this paper
• Termite Diversity in Urban Landscape, South Jakarta, Indonesia

  2016cites this paper
• Chapter 6. Comparative genomic approaches to investigate molecular traits specific to social insects.

  2016cites this paper
• Panic escape polyethism in worker and soldier Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

  2016cites this paper
• Lack of aggression and apparent altruism towards intruders in a primitive termite

  2016cites this paper
• Expanding the Knowledge on Lignocellulolytic and Redox Enzymes of Worker and Soldier Castes from the Lower Termite Coptotermes gestroi

  2016cites this paper
• Improvement of physical, chemical, and biological properties of aridisol from Botswana by the incorporation of torrefied biomass

  2016cites this paper
• Diversity, Bacterial Symbionts and Antibacterial Potential of Gut-Associated Fungi Isolated from the Pantala flavescens Larvae in China

  2015cites this paper
• Design Guideline to Select Systems and Strategies to Achieve Adequate Indoor Air Quality in the Mojave Desert Climate Region

  2015cites this paper
• Soil-sampled termites in Two Contrasting Ecosystems within the Semiarid Domain in Northeastern Brazil: Abundance, Biomass, and Seasonal Influences

  2015cites this paper
• A genomic comparison of two termites with different social complexity

  2015cites this paper
• Activities of a Cellulase of the Termite, Ametermes Eveuncifer (Silverstri) Soldier: Clue to Termites Salt Intolerance

  2015cites this paper
• Methane Emissions From Wetland Trees: Controls and Variability

  2014cites this paper
• Ivermectin Dust for the Control of Coptotermes formosanus in Residential Areas

  2014cites this paper
• Latitudinal Variation in Termite Species Richness and Abundance along the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Hotspot

  2014cites this paper
• Social Insects Dominate Eastern US Temperate Hardwood Forest Macroinvertebrate Communities in Warmer Regions

  2013cites this paper
• Litter-based invertebrate communities in forest floor and bromeliad microcosms along an elevational gradient in Puerto Rico

  2013cites this paper
• Studies of the nests of the fungus-growing termite Macrotermes natalensis (Isoptera: Macrotermitinae)

  2013cites this paper
• Improved termite hill routing protocol using ACO WSN

  2013cites this paper
• Termite-Hill: Routing towards a Mobile Sink for Improving Network Lifetime in Wireless Sensor Networks

  2012cites this paper
• Appraisal of the Economic Activities of Termites: A Review

  2012cites this paper
• Alabama Rhinotermitidae: Nomenclature, Identification, Survey, and Phenology

  2012cites this paper
• Epigenetics in Social Insects: A New Direction for Understanding the Evolution of Castes

  2012cites this paper
• SCREENING OF SOME SYNTHETICS AND BIO-PESTICIDES AGAINST TERMITES IN WHEAT

  2012cites this paper
• Nest value mediates reproductive decision making within termite societies

  2012cites this paper
• Influence of termites on ecosystem functioning. Ecosystem services provided by termites

  2011cites this paper
• Mitochondrial and nuclear markers highlight the biodiversity of Kalotermes flavicollis (Fabricius, 1793) (Insecta, Isoptera, Kalotermitidae) in the Mediterranean area

  2011cites this paper