SHUT YOUR WINDOWS AT 5 O’CLOCK P.M. EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER TO MARCH: ALATE SWARMING OF TERMITES

Two species of dry wood termites commonly found in the tropical Atlantic forest of Brazil, Cryptotermis brevis and C. dudleyi, were studied by Bandeira, A.G.; Silva, M.P.da e Vasconcellos,A. [Acta Biologica Leopoldinensia, v. 23, n. 2, 2001]. Swarmings occurred during nine months, from October to May in colonies of C. brevis with a peak from November to December. And C. dudleyi had a swarming period from December to June with a peak from February to March. The former species showed to be 5.4 times more efficient to form new colonies than the latter species.

The authors suggested that liberation of alates by colonies of both species during such long periods of the year, make them a most likely pest of structural timber in tropical areas; like in the campus of the Federal University of Paraíba, in João Pessoa, northeastern Brazil, where this study was performed. Cryptotermis brevis was reported by the authors as the worst destroyer of structural timber. However, giving a species a pest status is subjective because “without humans there would be no pest”, as pointed out by “Begon et al. (1990). Ecology: from individuals to ecosystems. London, Blackwell”.

It is also important to note that all the observed dispersion flights occurred between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Since they become less visible to predators at twilight time, the authors interpreted the highest swarming at that period of the day as a survival strategy of both species. That is why the title of this brief assay: a warning to Brazilians living in Paraíba state (and “surroundings”).

The photos shown here illustrate termites proliferation in the campus: (top) on old plywood desks discharged unduly outside a building, close to the forest; (middle) some nests on a tree in a parking lot in front of a bank agency in the campus; and (below) on a shrub in the forest. The termite nests on a tree in the parking lot might suggest that the tree is not healthy (outside its natural habitat, the forest), and that a preventive action by eliminating such focus of termites must be carried out; as well as the focus of termites on plywood timber of the old school desks.