Page 23 - The Miracle of Termites

Adnan Oktar

ture, they enter a life-long bond, reproducing to found the colony. As
with all other operations and processes in a colony, all termites know
their duties very well and there is no question of rebellion. The future
kings and queens never abandon the nest; they are aware of their re-
sponsibilities and do what they need to do to establish new colonies.

The Importance of the Queen

The main difference between the queen and other termites is that
she has wings. These wings are not permanent, but are a sign of her
status. The mature queen begins to establish a colony in the spring; she
then leaves the nest in search of a king
and in her search, uses fluids called
pheromones from her body to attract
him. After a short flight, she alights

on the ground, raises her body and
emits a secretion from her glands.
From one gland on her back, she se-
cretes a fluid that can attract a king
from a distance of 20 cm (7 inches), from her thorax,
she secretes another pheromone that's effective up to a distance of 3
cm (1.1 inches).

After the king and queen have come together, they go in search of
a place where they can mate. The dig a tunnel, dig a mating chamber
and later begin to construct a nest. The queen first lays 5 eggs; the first
termites that hatch from these eggs are nurtured by the king and
queen to be workers. 2
The queen has an incredible reproductive capacity. One species of
termite (an African species, Macrotermes natalensis) whose queen lays
30 thousand eggs each day; that is, one every three seconds. Even an
3
old queen can lay egg the same rate. A queen may live to be between

25 and 30 years, producing tens of millions of eggs in her life.

Community Organization among Termites 21