Auroville wouldn't be Auroville without its teeming world of termites, manifesting in exquisitely sculpted termite mounds all over the place, termite eaten cupboards, books or clothing, termite perforated doors and window frames... and the endless rows of transparent, 'naked', slivering little creatures (termites) marching in columns through your garden, or probing their way via earth-encrusted tunnels into your hutment or house. Termites are part of the diet of many animals, birds, reptiles and other creatures - even humans (see below). They also break down dead wood and keep the environment 'tidy' thereby, open up the earth to aeration.

Ever seen a chicken eat termites, one by one as they march by her? A very rapid peck, peck, peck and the column gets briefly disrupted, with gaps in its continuity, but in the end they just keep coming and coming… and coming, as they have done for countless millions of years, and are likely to continue doing so for eons to come.

As termites are an incredibly successful collective life form, Aurovilians may have some things learn from them..! They may even deserve our grudging admiration..

Termites aren't ants

The 'white ants' tag for termites is very misleading since termites are more closely related to cockroaches and grasshoppers. Their mouth parts in particular are very like the cockroach's, with tough biting jaws: and they have thick waists, generally soft bodies and straight feelers, also quite unlike ants, who have thin waists, hard bodies and bent feelers. And, of course, they are entirely vegetarian, taking their sustenance mostly from dead wood; though a few of the approximately 2,000 species worldwide also eat fungi, and plants such as grass, as Aurovilians may have noticed, columns regularly invading and denuding patches of grass.

Queen can be up to 10 cms long!

There are many other differences, but perhaps one of the most significant is that whereas every ant you see is female (except briefly, for a few hours each year at mating flight time) all termite castes are divided into approximately equal numbers of males and females at all times. Even their royalty is balanced, with a king ever present alongside the queen in a special inner chamber called the 'copularium'. The royal couple may live up to 50 years in some species, frequently re-mating to maintain the queen's prodigious output of up to 1,000 eggs a day. In appearance the king is normal, but the queen is absolutely something else! Once she starts the colony, her body swells up with eggs until she becomes a monstrous white caterpillar-like creature, sometimes up to 10 cms long, totally helpless, and existing only like some awful machine to endlessly pump out eggs for the colony.

Highly organised earth-made dwellings

Termites have achieved one of she most perfect of all 'animal' societies. Found throughout the tropics and as far north as Europe (2 species), they usually live in highly organised earth-made dwellings, either excavated below ground level only, or in the form of a mound above ground level. In some species these mounds, which may be iron hard and contain up to a million or more occupants, can be as tall as 8 metres (26 feet). And, of course, species are also found living in galleries hollowed out of dead wood.
Digestion of wood and other tough cellulose material is facilitated by masses of microscopic protozoans in their gut, which are first acquired from workers as they regurgitate food to nourish the young. Incidentally, in the course of digestion termites also produce methane gas which is one of the causes of high altitude ozone destruction.

Nearly all colonies consist of:

• the royal pair;

• soldiers equipped with powerful jaws (normal) or chemical repellent capabilities (rare) to defend the colony;

• reproductives, which form the annual mating flight clouds we expect towards the end of each year;

• the generally white-or-pale bodied workers;

• and occasionally, fertile offspring known as supplementary reproductives, which never develop proper wings or leave the colony, and are only reared as replacements if anything happens to the king or queen.

Soldiers and workers probably live for up to 4 years.

Superb ways of defence

The most constant and widespread enemy of termites is ants, though termite soldiers can put up a formidable defence using their jaws or chemical weaponry. One species has developed specially shaped jaws which enable them also to 'flick' invading ants into the air, away from the colony entrance.
But most remarkable of all, surely, must be the soldier species which, if the nest is invaded, block off the entry tunnels by swelling up their bodies, finally exploding themselves and plastering their attackers with their remains!
Apart from their capability as fighting instruments, soldiers are relatively helpless. Together with the equally helpless royal couple and reproductives, they have to be fed and groomed by the workers.
Also, most of then - like the workers also - are either blind or have only rudimentary eyesight. Only in the reproductives caste are eyes always found - presumably for locating mates on the nuptial flight.

Flying termites

The big event of the year is of course the mating flight of reproductives, which seems to happen simultaneously for all members of a species in an area. Immediately the flight is over, they break off their wings and then proceed in bonded pairs to dig out their first subterranean home. It is at this time that we here in Auroville sometimes awake in the morning to a gossamer carpet of fairy-like discarded wings under outdoor lamps, and the sight of the last few couples nose-to-tailing off in search of an excavatable spot for their nest.
For humans this is also an annual special occasion, as many societies around the world collect the soft-bodied de-winged newlyweds by the thousand and roast/fry them as a protein rich source of nourishment.

Rice with termites anyone?

The usually followed recipe is: first kill off the crawling mass by heating in water. Next, dry them in the sun, and then heat them on a metal dish over fire. This separates the bodies, so wings and legs etc can be discarded. Finally, add spices, chili, dal or rice to taste, and cook them over a slow fire. Personally I've only tried them once, and have no great desire to do so again, having eaten so many I had a stomach ache next day (people say they taste a bit like fried groundnut or mutton!). Perhaps we could persuade the Solar Kitchen to serve them in season? On the other hand, perhaps everyone would prefer to stick to rice and veggies!)

Written by Tim Wrey