Good Termites?

Rolling over rotting logs in the forest (no not terminal Covid boredom but a long term habit) one fell apart in pieces and I found hundreds of these winged insects.  They didn't attempt to fly, just scrambled into the rotten wood like ants would when disturbed.  That lead to an email to the ever patient Dr. James Trager.  His response:

"Alate termites. No worries, they're Subterranean Termites - Reticulotermes flavipes, very common throughout eastern temperate North America, not interested in sound wood or in any wood that is not in contact with soil."

When I think of termites, I envision the white to pale yellow-orange creatures in rotting wood structures.  I wasn't thinking of black ant like critters with long wings.  Although it resembles an ant, termites belong to the Blattodea family, related to cockroaches.  Alate refers to the reproductive caste from a social insect colony in its winged form.

"In a termite colony, alates (winged males and winged females) disperse in a specific period or a month. Male and female pair to each other during flight, shed their wings, and start a new colony. Alate females are typically those destined to become gynes (queens), whereas alate males are occasionally referred to as "drones" (or "kings" in the case of termites.)"  Wikipedia

The University of Florida Entomology web site has more that we need to know about Reticulotermes flavipes and the genus in general.  They live in subterranean nests and are a problem when the wood of a house is in direct contact with the soil.  

“Everyone in life has a purpose, even if it's to serve as a bad example.” -Carroll Bryant

So back to the basic question that the 5th grade WOLF students (and most adults) ask, "What good are termites, ... mosquitoes, flies, spiders, etc?"    Termites are food for ants, spiders, birds, beetles, praying mantis, and even bears!  They recycle logs on the ground - consider how many miles deep our forest floor would be with dead logs without recyclers!

Ask a black bear about termites and it will say "baby food and desert."  Insect larvae are 80-90% protein (vs. less than 30% for beef) so it is highly ranked on the summer menu.  It is a special delicacy for cubs eating their first solid foods.

Black bears dig up ant and termite colonies, drawn to the odor of ants' defensive formic acid. They attempt to eat the brood cleanly without getting a lot of soil, debris, and adult ants. They do this most easily with colonies under rocks, moss, and ground litter. They flip over the rocks or other cover and get the brood with a few flicks of their sticky tongues.

Termites only got their bad reputation when bipedal apes developed language, tools and eventually wood structures to live in.  After millions of year of coexistence with our world, a termite might ask "What good are humans?"