Page 43 - The Miracle of Termites

Adnan Oktar

Of the termites that use chemical weapons,
the species Armitermes has a different jaw
structure (at left and below). All soldier ter-
mites are designed to produce different poi-
sons in their bodies.

Schedorhinotermes, lives in Africa and produces
a compound called vinyl ketone—a substance
that when breathed or swallowed, causes
death. When it comes into contact with the skin

or the eyes, it causes severe irritation. Termites
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produce this most effective poison, causing a
collapse of the central nervous system, and store it in their bodies
without suffering any harm.
Termites in Guyana synthesize a very fast-acting substance called
B-ketoaldehydes. The Armitermes produce a poison called molecular
string and use substances called esters and lactones as chemical weap-
ons. As you can see, the structures of each of these poisons has a dif-
ferent chemical formula.

However, one common feature of these poisons is that all are elec-
trophylic—that is, they combine with the electron-rich biological mol-
ecules on the bodies of aggressors to cause fatal physical deterioration.
For millions of years, termites have been producing these poisonous
substances, many of which are unnamed and whose purposes are as
yet not understood.
Termites are not more than a few centimeters in length. They are

blind, live most of their life underground and have only a rudimenta-
ry brain. But they secrete from their bodies a substance designed to

The Termite Army 41