What do termites destruct the most? Your home, your beloved books, your shelter, your beautiful garden, but most of all they destruct your sense of peace and sense of safety. There is some amount of mental torture as these species multiply tenfold even before you get the hang of understanding how to eliminate them. It’s like you are running against time and there is some sort of one-up game being played between you and the termites. Even if they are as small as few millimeters in size, the joke is on you.
There are different levels of how dangerous the termites are. Some are docile and human-friendly, and some are most destructive and clearly number one human enemy. The species Mastotermes darwiniensis come in the second category.
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Mastotermes darwiniensis, common names giant northern termite and Darwin termite, is a termite species found only in northern Australia. It is a very peculiar insect, the most primitive termite alive. As such, it shows uncanny similarities to certain cockroaches, the termites’ closest relatives. These similarities include the anal lobe of the wing and the laying of eggs in bunches, rather than singly. It is the only living member of its genus Mastotermes and its family Mastotermitidae.
These species are subterranean species with 12.25 0.75mm in length with four castes namely king, queen, soldier and worker/reproductive.
The odd thing about Mastotermes is that while it is morphologically primitive, and has not changed its physical appearance much in many millions of years, its behavior and social structure are highly complex, and as derived as the termites that have evolved most recently of all. Mastotermes builds huge underground nest structures that contain extensive gallery construction and tunnel excavation; it forages far afield from the nest and has been known to damage structures over a hundred yards away from its colony. Full-grown colonies contain over a million individuals, with rigid caste structures and obligatory sterility for the worker forms. This is a lot like the most-derived, most-recently evolved termites, like the great mound-builders of Africa. In contrast, the most termite-like cockroach and the next-most-primitive termites after Mastotermes all live and eat inside one piece of rotting wood, have very flexible development, do not have obligatory sterility in the worker forms, build no galleries and no tunnels, and are have many fewer group members.
Mastotermes darwiniensis build their nest (secretively) totally below the soil surface; or in the trunks and root crowns of trees and stumps. Once a nest is mature (over 100,000 or much higher) they can “split off “to form other nests over a wide-ranging area. These sub nests are formed constantly and can sustain life for a long period of time without contact to the original nest.
Mastotermes darwiniensis is one of the world’s most destructive termite species, often causing severe damage to houses, buildings, bridges, posts, poles, and many other plant and animal products. It is also an agricultural pest, responsible for ringbarking and killing living trees, shrubs, fruit, vegetable crops, sugarcane and rubber trees.
Mastotermes darwiniensis is also reported to attack rubber tyres on tractors and cause damage to leather, hide, plastic or lead-sheathed cables, bitumen, bagged salt, flour, glass and various metals. This is the most ancient of all the termites in the world – they occur only in Australia – a termite to be feared.
There was an article posted on Australian Website, Goldcost.com.au by Henry Tuttiett on October 15th, 2011, titled ”Terror termites found on gold coast”. The article was as follows:
AN established nest of the world’s most ferocious and aggressive termite has been discovered on the Gold Coast amid fears it could cause hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to property in the city.
The Mastotermes darwiniensis, commonly known as the great northern termite, was not thought to live south of the Tropic of Capricorn but a colony of the fast-spreading species was found in a western Gold Coast suburb two weeks ago.
The termite can cause severe damage to a home in only 12 weeks and is so aggressive it has been known to eat electrical wiring as well as the tyres of cane tractors, and even bitumen, in northern Australia.
Termite experts and entomology handbooks describe the species as “the world’s most destructive”.
Pest-Ex Pest Management owner Danny Kelly discovered the termite in a tree stump during a property inspection and said he realized the magnitude of his find almost immediately.
A Brisbane entomologist confirmed the species before the sample was taken to an industry conference in Townsville, where experts also verified it.
Mr. Kelly, who was himself attacked by the termites after his find, said if one colony was found on the Coast, there was a high likelihood there would be more.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation said a small colony of the “particularly destructive” species was found at Tallai in 2008.
Mr. Kelly said he had also spoken to the CSIRO about the discovery.
This is the amount of fear these species have incorporated in the mind of people living in Australia. The normal alternatives like insecticides are temporary and not very effective for such species. For particularly these species arsenic dust or chemical barriers are used. They are toxic and leach out endangering the people coming in contact with them. It is a general convention that ‘Change is the only constant’. And the change required in today’s world need to be related to going green. Our product Termirepel ™ is the most viable alternative.
Termirepel ™ is an aversive for termites and insects. It works even against the most aggressive species.
It has unique qualities which range from being non-toxic and non-hazardous to being the magic word “ECO-FRIENDLY”. It does not leach out and is stable at high temperatures. It can be incorporated into polymeric applications as well as be used to give a coating on wood surfaces and timber derivatives. It is available in Liquid as well as lacquer form. Moreover, the most important characteristic of Termirepel ™ is that it does not kill the target species. It works on the principle of REPELLENCE only. This product is niche and one of its kinds. This product will come as a sigh of relief for people long suffering from “Termite Abuse”, especially when the termites are as destructive as Mastotermes darwiniensis.