{UAH} Termites never sleep

Termites are amazing creatures. Sure, they also destroy wood and wooden structures, but that doesn't mean they aren't amazing. Even though termites can cause a lot of problems with our health or home, they also have some interesting facts that will surprise you.

1. There are three basic types of termite species. First are the damp wood termites. These are larger bugs that only eat wet, rotting wood. Then there are dry wood species, which have small colonies that prefer to feast on dry, soft woods. The third type is subterranean species, which can have colonies that number in the millions, and dig underground.

2. Mounds are very strong and stable structure made of mud, soil, digested wood, feces and saliva. "Workers" are in charge for building and maintaining of the mounds.

3. Termites never sleep. They build their colonies 24 hours a day, every day, until they die. Most of this work boils down to "eating." This is one reason colonies can be so destructive: they never take a break from their hard work!

4. The weight of all the termites in the world surpasses the weight of all humans in the world combined! This means that if you were to somehow gather up all of the termites in the world and weigh them, the weight of all of them would be more than the weight of all the humans in the entire world.

5. Like ants, termites live in colonies which consist of nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers and reproductive males and females. They all differ in size, shape and function they perform.

6. Termites use vibrations to communicate with one another. When soldier sense a threat, they tap or bang their heads against the colony's tunnel walls , creating vibrations to warn the rest of the colony.

7. The queen is attended by hundreds of workers that feed her and care for her and her entire job becomes laying eggs. Some termite species' queens can lay 15 to 25 eggs per minute--and over 40,000 per day.

8. Both workers and soldiers are almost completely blind because they spend their whole life in the dark.

9. Ants are termites' main competition and predators. Occasionally, termite and ant colonies near each other will even go to war over territory and access to food. These "wars" consist of organized invasions upon colonies conducted by both species' respective soldier castes.

10. The average termite worker only lives for a couple years. However, termite queens have been known to live for over 20 years as they rule over their colonies.

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"War is nothing but a  continuation of political intercourse, with a mixture of other means. Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." 

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