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termites are small insects in the same family as cockroaches, but most people prefer an infestation of the latter. These pests are known to be highly destructive to homes and often cause damage to wood structures with their diets. So, what do termites eat? Besides, how do they eat their food?
We’ll tell you everything you need to know, including where they go when it gets cold outside. Depending on your location, you may not like the answer! Fortunately, we also show you the predators that prey on these insects.
What foods do termites eat?
Termites eat dead or dying plants, wood, roots and fungi. They are considered detritivores, creatures that consume debris that is considered waste. These insects specifically target food because of their cellulose content. Their unique gut bacteria allow them to break down cellulose and extract energy from it.
These are the most common foods termites eat:
- Grasses
- Fungi (particularly Termitomyces and Xylaria)
- mango trees
- peach trees
- pine trees
- chopping wood
- sugar cane
- Springwood
- Roots
- Oak trees
- essen
- Termite droppings
- Cotton
- palm trees
Termites feed on plant material and wood that is in a state of decay, where they can easily harvest and digest the food. As you might imagine, the termites’ diet is a major problem for humans as wood is a common building material. A termite infestation can become so severe that the individuals have to leave a home due to structural damage.
Some other parts of the termite diet are more utilitarian. Termites often eat feces to prepare their gut bacteria for digestion; their bodies do not naturally possess the bacteria and enzymes needed to digest the tough plant material and fungi. Eating the excrement of other termites prepares their bodies.
The termites’ diet and ability to recycle their waste to build their homes make these insects a valuable creature in their ecosystem, ensuring that waste products are used instead of just building up.
Unfortunately, it is currently believed that termites’ digestive processes result in the release of significant amounts of methane, more than 3% of global emissions. Even though their hills are reduce methane emissions, their eating habits could pose problems of greater magnitude to humans than half-eaten telephone poles.
How do termites eat their food?
Wood, plant matter and fungi are not exactly easy for insects to eat and digest, but termites succeed. Termites have special asymmetrical jaws that allow them to tear into their favorite food and consume it quickly and efficiently.
Their strong mouthparts allow termites to chew and swallow their food quickly, allowing their special gut biome to break down the cellulose into usable energy for the termite. Interestingly, not all termites in the caste system can digest cellulose; they have different duties.
So it’s up to the worker caste to feed other termites process called trophallaxis. The workers will feed the other termites mouth-to-mouth or anus-to-mouth.
Another unique aspect of termite eating habits is that their symbiotic relationship with the Termitomyces fungi. Termites essentially breed these fungi in a fungal comb and allow them to mature in their mounds. The insects consume the fungi and use their enzymes to strengthen their digestion, making it easier to break down cellulose.
Basically, termites are farmers for fungi that they use to aid their digestion.
What competes with termites for food?
While termites may be the most common insect that eats dying plant matter and wood, they do have some competition for their meals.
For example, powderpost beetles are a competitor for wood that termites have to deal with. These beetles drill into wood and lay eggs. Their young hatch and eat their way to the top. Unlike termites, these insects are mainly found indoors, especially in floorboards and furniture.
Sometimes competition with termites is more about limiting the insect’s foraging efforts and less about eating the same food source. For example, carpenter ants often dig in wood to make nests for their offspring.
Both carpenter ants and termites look for rotting wood. When the two meet, the ants will often kill and eat the termites, sometimes wiping out an entire colony.
Bark beetles are another insect that consumes wood and thereby competes with termites for food. They are often found under the bark of trees and eat dry wood.
Some of these competitors are dangerous, like the ants, but others just leave less wood for termites, even if their ranges don’t completely overlap.
What do termites eat in winter?
Termites are very determined creatures, but they are also cold-blooded. That means they have to find shelter in the winter, otherwise they die. While some termites are killed by the cold, others continue to burrow in the ground in search of roots and decaying plant material.
If the temperature is warm enough, termites will leave their nests, collect food and return it for the soldiers and brood boxes.
Another option for termites, of course, is to find a nice warm home where people live and constantly eat wood in remote areas like basements.
Termites eat much of the same food in winter as they do year-round, including decaying plant matter, wood, and fungi they have stored in their mounds.
What predators prey on termites?
While termites are numerous and capable of invading homes, they are not particularly good at defending themselves. As we’ve already mentioned, carpenter ants can wipe out termite colonies. People are not too fond of these insects either.
Check out these termite predators:
Termites are small creatures with many enemies. While humans don’t eat termites, they certainly hunt and kill them to avoid damage to buildings.
Termites are detritivores that form interesting symbiotic relationships with fungi, protozoa and bacteria to help them break down tough food materials such as cellulose. Termites are all over the world, and people can only estimate how many actually exist and the impact they have.
While capable, termites are also prone to attack by predators that hunt and feed on them, as well as humans who consistently battle to save structures from their destructive ways.
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