Within each termite colony, every member plays a specific role. The “workers” are the most numerous and the most destructive ones. Their mission is to feed their fellow creatures via an unsavory process: trophallaxis.
Termites !Time to eat!
Termites feed on cellulose. This food is present in wood, cardboard and paper. In their natural state, this diet based on dead wood is very useful for clearing forests. It is not the same for our habitat… Door frames, wallpaper, baseboards, books, paintings, but also electrical wires and swimming pool liners or even insulating materials that termites are able to destroy to achieve their aims. In the worst case scenario, the structure of a house can be partially or totally destroyed.
The role of worker termites
In mainland France, termites live underground and belong to the Reticulitermesgenus. Social insects, they are organized in colonies. Everyone strictly plays the role that is naturally assigned to them. Breeding couples to ensure the future of the breed, soldiers to defend the community… and above all workers.
Workers represent the majority of the colony. They feed and are responsible for the damage caused to trees and buildings. Termites consume cellulose; wood, therefore, but also all its derivatives, such as cardboard or paper (partitions, wallpaper, books). To reach their food source, they do not hesitate to cross, and therefore also degrade, materials that they do not consume, from plaster to electrical sheathing.
What is trophallaxis?
The mission of the worker is vital: to feed the other members of the colony. It consumes the cellulose, then regurgitates it for its fellow creatures! This mode of feeding, called “trophallaxis“, is therefore the survival secret of termites.
The SENTRI TECH method is a bait containing the patented active ingredient developed by Corteva Agriscience™ and that worker termites consume. This bait has the particularity of blocking their sloughing. And as the workers have the mission to feed the whole colony, they then contaminate their fellow creatures…
