Talk:Termite/Archive 1

Photo
Can someone please move the photo at the end of the article so that no one will have to accidentally be exposed to such material? Or make the image appear after the user clicks a link. Optim 17:56, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * Or, at least, find some way to let sensitive users hide the photo :) Optim 17:57, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Sensitive to pictures of bugs? People with phobias should take it upon themselves to be cautious, and if they are so sensitive they can't look at pictures of everyday creatures should probably get some kind of help. Or should we also avoid all pictures of open spaces and heights? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Josh Grosse (talk • contribs) 16:10, 2 March 2004


 * I can understand your reasoning, but you should know that a number of people don't like to see bugs, although they may like to know about them. Optim·.· 14:55, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Lifespan of Queen
I read that termite queens can live 50 yrs. If that's true, it should definatly be mentioned. --151.196.29.69 00:30, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Social Structure and Behaviour
I question the extent to which termites are examples of "decentralised, self-organised systems" given that the terminary dies immediately if the queen is killed. ChrisKennedy 05:10, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Usually not neccessarily, termites, depending on the species have a sub-caste known as supplementaries which are able to replace a dead queen or king. As an ameteur of termite study, I have destroyed termite mounds to find and capture a queen. Years later I returned to find the exact same mound flourishing again. This may be due to either the above mentioned suppementary sub-caste or due to other alates from another nest making the half eaten tree a new nest. - Darth Trini —Preceding unsigned comment added by DarthTrini (talk • contribs) 19:57, 23 June 2006

Divisions
The article should be sub-divided into sections. It is easier to read that way. Rintrah 12:56, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

closer to ants?
"Termites are highly modified, social, wood-eating cockroaches": but isn't that jumping out of the family of ants and bees, into a different family... --Jidanni 2006-04-15

Ants belong to a totally different family order called hymenoptera, whereas termites are isoptera. So there is more in common with cockroaches than ants biologically. - DarthTrini. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DarthTrini (talk • contribs) 13:25, 19 April 2006

Acording to DNA and microbial evidence termites are cockroaches ASH1977LAW 08:50, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Miscategorized metamorphosis?
"Termites undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with their freshly hatched young taking the form of tiny termites that grow without significant morphological changes." Useful, perhaps, but why is it in the Soldiers section? Octavo 18:30, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Holes?
I think my house has termites but I'm not sure if the holes are right...it should specify what the holes look like in the article (the picture of wood damage desn't clearly show the shape of the holes). Thanks. S oa  P  19:47, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Relationships and evolutionary history
The evidence of termites in the Triassic is circumstantial, based on the interpretation of certain fossil structures as termite mounds. It may very well be true but the oldest direct evidence of termites in the fossil record is from the Cretaceous (although the diversity of termites in the Cretaceous suggests they evolved at some earlier point). The article should reflect this uncertainty. I would also question the identification of "termite" wings from the Permian, especially using such an outdated reference. I suspect that today these wings would probably be interpreted as belonging to the group called "roachoids" by Grimaldi, which is the ancestral group from which modern roaches, mantids, and termites evolved. MrDarwin 13:05, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

GA review

 * GA review (see here for criteria)

Placing article on hold 7 days. → A z a  Toth 12:29, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) It is reasonably well written.
 * a (prose): b (MoS):
 * 1) It is factually accurate and verifiable.
 * a (references): b (citations to reliable sources):  c (OR):
 * 1) It is broad in its coverage.
 * a (major aspects): b (focused):
 * 1) It follows the neutral point of view policy.
 * a (fair representation): b (all significant views):
 * 1) It is stable.
 * 2) It contains images, where possible, to illustrate the topic.
 * a (tagged and captioned): b lack of images (does not in itself exclude GA):  c (non-free images have fair use rationales):
 * 1) Overall:
 * a Pass/Fail:
 * The article contains a lot of terms not fully defined, especially for me as a non native english speaker do not fully understand some jargon used in the article.
 * The image Image:Termite damaged wood.jpg has a unasserted copyright, must be fixed.
 * More inline citations should be used, but the criteria 2b is objectable at the moment, so it's ok for the moment.
 * More inline citations should be used, but the criteria 2b is objectable at the moment, so it's ok for the moment.

Where do they live?
I came to this page to find out if termites only live in Australia or are worldwide. I couldn't find any information on where they are found - even just a sentence in the intro would be helpful. Does anyone know? Pennoze 18:57, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Termites as a source of power
Perhaps the word you're looking for is "methanogenesis" not "metagenomics"? EPMD (talk) 11:17, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

The Number Of Queens and Kings In A termite Nest
It is normal to find two or three kings and queens in one palace. However, i have seen a palace with FOUR QUEENS and TWO KINGS. I have also seen a palace with TWO KINGS and FOUR QUEES. I have also seen a palace with SEVEN KINGS AND SEVEN QUEENS.

Does any of this findings earn a place in the Guinnes Book Of Record?212.88.102.146 (talk) 08:30, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Termite hills - Hydrology in Ancient India
An authoritative book titled "Hydrology in Ancient India" published as India's contribution to International Hydrology Programme (IHP), by the National Institute of Hydrology, Jal Vigyan Bhavan, Roorkee 247 667, India has, in the Chapter 5 on Ground Water, deals with the knowledge of ground water divining with the help of termite mounds.Extracts from this book have been included in the article. --Nvvchar (talk) 05:22, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

White ant
"White ant" redirects here, but there's no mention of the term in the article. I'm not a native English speaker and I've never heard "White ant" before, so I think someone more knowledgeable should add it to the page. --89.102.32.253 (talk) 22:41, 6 October 2008 (UTC)


 * An apparently well-meaning editor recently removed the term from the introduction, because they felt too many people would interpret it to mean that termites were a type of ant. The argument was essentially that the average reader is not intelligent enough to understand the difference between the two, so better to delete the term than contribute to the confusion. I think it should be possible, however, to write a sentence or two that explains that "white ant", while COMPLETELY inappropriate, is nonetheless in common use - akin to the way people constantly refer to yellowjacket wasps as "bees". Dyanega (talk) 00:29, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I've been bold... Is the end of the introduction an appropriate place for an inappropriate common name? For reference, see and a few later revisions. --147.229.64.216 (talk) 15:02, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * It certainly should reduce the confusion, I'd imagine. Dyanega (talk) 17:38, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

New colonies
Please add the picture of the termites with wings that goes out from the colony to create news one

Also describe this process

Thanks

Milton (talk) 18:09, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * It's a pity you didn't ask for a picture at the beginning of the rainy season in SE Asia rather than the end. I usually have many dune-like structures made out of thousands of winged termites out in the garden at the beginning of the rains. I'll have a look to see if I have any photos.  Sean.hoyland  - talk 11:21, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Communication
I guess this article needs something about how they communicate including the head-banging alarm system at the very least. I'll have a search for sources.  Sean.hoyland  - talk 11:21, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Nitrogen Fixation in Termites
A few words on nitrogen fixation in termites should be included on this termite entry.Dradcurtis (talk) 02:59, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Name
Is it ... something to do with 'terminus' ? like.. they destroy over time? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.73.70.113 (talk) 01:49, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Building materials: dust-free dirt?
I doubt a reference will ever be found for the Termite sentence/subsection. How does one determine whether or not a sample of dirt contains any dust? --lizardo_tx (talk) 21:17, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm removing this section since it consists of a single sentence which has remained unsourced for months. --lizardo_tx (talk) 14:04, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Unsourced!
"Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (see taxonomy below), but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattaria." This sentence has no cited source. Such a bold sentence must be removed unless preferably several sources show this to be consensus. (After all, just one paper doesn't necessarily establish consensus even if that paper is peer-reviewed.) As a closing note, there is a difference between Wikipedia consensus and scientific consensus, and I'm talking about the latter. The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 01:23, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Per WP:LEADCITE, citations aren't always necessary in the lead however it's true that the sentence is a misleading summary of the Termite section of the article which does at least have some references. Bignell's Biology of Termites: A Modern Synthesis has a useful summary of the current situation on page 34. You can be bold and fix things yourself.  Sean.hoyland  - talk 08:37, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

"This simple story, which has been in entomology textbooks for decades, is complicated by the finding that all studied termites can produce their own cellulase enzymes, and therefore might digest wood in the absence of their symbiotic microbes although there is now evidence suggeting that these gut microbes make use of termite-produced cellulase enzymes."

As a general rule, when asserting a statement of fact that upends the statements found "in entomology textbooks for decades," one should provide at least one source for one's statement. I just came back from looking at "Ask Nature," where I found they quote Gould and Gould 2007:132-133 as saying that termites do not digest cellulose on their own. What am I to make of such discrepancies if Wikipedia authors do not cite their sources? Pooua (talk) 03:45, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

Size
Hi. This article makes no mention of termite size. Although it likely varies between different roles, sexes, colonies, locations, habitats and species, a rough guide to the average length would be helpful to readers. It is an obvious characteristic that needs to be mentioned. Thanks. ~ AH1 (discuss!) 01:50, 31 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Caste polyphenism makes that a really really hard question to answer, though. Any rough guide would really just be that - rough.--  Obsidi ♠ n   Soul   02:20, 31 July 2011 (UTC)


 * That's easy - just list the smallest and largest sizes for all species. ~ AH1 (discuss!) 17:13, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Racist slur
I agree with the reversion; if I hadn't been beaten to it I would have reverted it too. The concept of the tar baby goes back a couple of centuries at least. The application to termites never had anything to do with racism and goes back to the mid 20th century at least. Bringing in racism is a late 20th century bit of American revisionism along the lines of trying to outlaw terms like picnic for racism. WP is not supposed to be an organ of hysterical illiteracy. JonRichfield (talk) 05:38, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Termites now within Blattodea
In August 2011 the order that termites belonged to was switched over to Blattodea from Isoptera on this page, reflecting work published in Biology Letters in 2007. In May 2012 someone reverted this change without signing in and with no comment. I'm assuming they thought they were correcting a mistake, since most textbooks probably aren't caught up to this research. I will update this page to reflect this new phylogenetic rank unless someone knows of any conflict to this information. The new ranking appears to be: Order Blattodea -> Superfamily Blattoidea -> Epifamily Termitoidea. Quinzer (talk) 20:08, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Make the introductory section more accessible to the broad public
As an average layman when it comes to insects, I need to click every single clickable word in the introductory section in this article to understand it. The introduction would be much more informative to the masses who use an encyclopedia if the jargon was saved for later in the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sasjaf (talk • contribs) 12:34, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Ground water divining in ancient India
Consider changing section title. It's still being used in modern Thailand, where it's not considered 'divination' but a practical way of finding water. --Pawyilee (talk) 12:49, 25 January 2013 (UTC)--Pawyilee (talk) 12:49, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

New ovaries for old queens
There were a few words on the topic of growing extra ovaries as the queen continues to mature. The remarks were incoherent, possibly incomplete. I deleted them because as far as I can make out, they were in accurate at best. If anything increases in number it is the ovarioles, not the ovaries, and even that has been called in question. I invite anyone with sound citations to correct or supplement this text, but there is so much uncited garbage online, that though I am normally pretty easy-going about citations, I will be sniffy about challenging any claims. Feel welcome to discuss the matter. JonRichfield (talk) 15:31, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

Dispute: Any support to taxonomic reclassification?
Article States in part: "... until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera ... but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea."

Is there some source for this? Other than a single article I was able to find on how their guts are similar?

I found this page http://tolweb.org/Dictyoptera/8253 that seems to dispute placing termites under roaches, rather alongside. While I'm sure that would be sensational advert materials for pest control companies, I'm not finding a scientifically accepted resource to make this taxonomic reclassification official.

Further into the article, there is a contradictory section "Taxonomy, evolution, and systematics" that seems to further waffle around.

Edit: It looks like I need to point out that someone publishing a new theory or research paper does not create a generally accepted reclassification. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.186.194.79 (talk) 18:48, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

A citation [1] http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/3/331.full was just added to support this reclassification. I read it. And I quote: "We propose that the presently recognized order Isoptera should no longer be used and that the species presently included in Isoptera should be classified within the family Termitidae as part of the order Blattodea within the superorder Dictyoptera. "

Key words: "We Propose...." Does this passes the test as a confirming Wikipedia citation?

Steve — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.186.194.79 (talk) 19:15, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

NPOV request based on BALANCE WP:GEVAL regarding Taxobox classification and first paragraph of article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.186.194.79 (talk) 21:15, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

The King?
The second paragraph of the Reproductives section starts, "The king [...]", but the concept of the king has not been previously explained. Who is the king? This needs explaining before this stage. Fig (talk) 16:49, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

Ground water divining in ancient India
Why is this flagged as controversial/undue-weight with no discussion here? The only controversy I see is labeling it as divining, ancient, and limited to India. It's a common means of locating sources of potable water where I live. --Pawyilee (talk) 04:10, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Can these mighty insects hold the key to reducing childhood diabetis?
Bold text I am just wondering if anyone has considered these creatures as containing a protein or perhaps an enzyme of some sort that may be essential in healing juvenile diabetis? They survive on organic fibers, essentialy turning it into glucose which results in energy essential to life. I have wondered about this for years now. I am just an ordinary person in an extraordinary world. CuriousShell (talk) 13:47, 29 August 2013 (UTC)--CuriousShell (talk) 13:47, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

No mention of nasute termites
There should be a paragraph within the soldier section mentioning nasutes. They are a different type of soldier termite that shoots chemicals from a tube/snout on its head, and I think they are the smallest sort of termite in a colony. Photo of multiple nasutes useful source useful source Burklemore1 (talk) 10:39, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Heat Exchanger?
I have heard that the shell of termites works as a heat exchanger in many ways..but have not been able to find any articles/websites/papers about the same..does anybody have any idea about the same? Ganesh 12:00, 21st Oct 2006 (IST)

The BBC has a good video on termites, termite mounds and their relation to temperature stabilization at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld07xdqnytkCharlesHBennett (talk) 02:18, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Whatwas the page blanked for? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Spacevezon (talk • contribs) 05:05, 17 March 2007

Working on this
I will be doing a major expansion the time being after I fix an article I have been working on. I have noticed this article has been neglected and it's time this article will see a major cleanup. I have already done some improvements. Burklemore1 (talk) 06:14, 8 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Just tacking on that one of the major improvements needed is to avoid primary sources. There are quite a few pieces of content directly citing the findings of primary studies. Since this is a broad topic, we shouldn't have issues getting review articles and secondary sources, so if we are going to mention a specific study, we should be citing a secondary source that mentions it instead to establish the weight of the specific claim (see WP:SCIRS for more info). The introduction section of primary journal articles could be ok for this too. I'm not going to nitpick on everything right now, so I'm just going through and tagging content that's a relatively strong statement that should have a secondary source backing it up. Otherwise we run the risk of dealing in original research in determining how valid certain claims are. Plus, we're not a journal, so we generally don't want to be pulling information from primary studies. That all being said, I'll stop back here in awhile to help with cleanup as well. It looks like it could be a fun topic to get up to speed with the literature on. Kingofaces43 (talk) 03:03, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Also, it could be that a section a tagged might be mundane enough that we can get by with the current source. We aren't here to summarize primary studies, so that's no preferred, but I'm mainly putting the tags in to note where it's worth a look for non-primary sources. Kingofaces43 (talk) 03:08, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

The Eusociality article has a good section on the paradox of eusociality and the need for other explanations than haplodiploidy in view of termites being diploid and yet universally eusocial, whereas bees are haplodiploid yet some are solitary.CharlesHBennett (talk) 02:18, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

How many species?
According to the text, "estimated 4,000 species (about 3,106 taxonomically known)"; according to the table, estimated 2,295 species. Pål Jensen (talk) 20:07, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Scientific name v. common name
This page is called Termite and has a redirect if you type in Isoptera the order that they are in. Shouldn't the title of this page be Isoptera to be consistent with other pages of other orders that stick to the scientific name and not the common name being used as the title. What do people think?

Tookoolforcupid (talk) 21:48, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Generally, we use the common name as the title when available and when it describes the entire grouping (e.g. try Diptera). For something like Hymenoptera or Lepidoptera, there are multiple common names for different groups within, but not one for the order. For this infraorder, I'm not aware of anything within being not being a termite, so we're actually being consistent with Wikipedia naming conventions on this page. Kingofaces43 (talk) 22:37, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Mound Materials

 * "These are elaborate structures made using a combination of soil, mud, chewed wood/cellulose, saliva, and faeces."

Mud is just wet soil if I'm not mistaken, so why list it separately, especially if Termites add moisture to it as part of their building process (saliva & faeces)? 142.161.57.230 (talk) 18:41, 23 July 2015 (UTC)

Britannica
Obviously we want more up-to-date materials for scientific articles but for those interested in historical understandings of these critters, Wikisource has: some of which might be used for a #History section here or be necessary to cite for passages we've copied from them. — Llywelyn II   04:26, 30 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Thank you, I have been thinking of improving this article significantly again (not in the base shape right now) . This could prove very useful. Burklemore1 (talk) 06:13, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Improving
For notice, I am going to improve this article in one of my sandboxes. This will give me a chance to actually work on this with ease. Burklemore1 (talk) 06:23, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Radical changes
Since I am near to completion with the Termite article in my sandbox, I am going to make some radical changes in the next upcoming days. I would like to let users know of this just in case they intend on making major edits themselves. Burklemore1 (talk) 15:28, 11 September 2015 (UTC)
 * I'd say go for it. It's tough to pick out what the individual changes will be from the sandbox alone, so if you edit section by section (when possible) that would probably help keep track of what's being reworked. I'll be happy to look over it later as a second set of eyes for anything to potentially tweak. Kingofaces43 (talk) 16:12, 11 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Before I incorporate the sandbox version live, I'll do a copyedit first. At the moment I'm not fully complete with the article, since I need to incorporate more about communication (mainly just mechanical cues), locomotion, some more bits of the anatomy, parasites, pathogens and viruses, as pests in general and in agriculture, and their role in the human culture. I'll do a little more with the diet too. I have removed some chunks in the main article though, most were unnecessary links and info based on unreliable sources. Burklemore1 (talk) 05:27, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

Major edits beginning
I am now incorporating all of the info from the sandbox here. There may be a few errors and such in the reference section, but do not worry about this for the time being. Burklemore1 (talk) 12:37, 20 September 2015 (UTC)


 * I started looking over between the current time and one of your first main edits and overall it looks really good. The only thing I noticed is that quite a few sources were removed. I didn't dig into them too much, but was this mainly because they were redundant with other sources cited for the same content? We definitely aren't lacking for sources, so I just wanted to check on that. Kingofaces43 (talk) 00:55, 23 September 2015 (UTC)


 * Burklemore1 I hadn't seen your comments here until just now. When I had questions, I've been asking them at User talk:Apokryltaros. Where would you like me to post any further questions I have? Corinne (talk) 01:11, 23 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Kingofaces43 Some of the sources were redundant while others had no use, were primary sources you tagged and out dated (the one used to cite how many species in each family was a poor example of a reference to use). Feel free to ask me any questions if you would like to Corinne, I'll answer them with no problem. Out of curiosity, when you say the prose is not very good, is that only directed to certain areas? I'd be pretty disappointed if my efforts came down to nothing if the whole article is just as bad as it used to be. Burklemore1 (talk) 04:09, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

Domination ?
mound species dominate the landscape I find this passage obscure. Surely the termites themselves do not dominate the landscape as it appears in sight. It is dominated by trees or possibly grasses. I don't even think that the mounds are that dominating. Is the intention to say that most termites are mound-building, or that most insects are mound-building termites, or that the mounds dominate the landscape (but not even that is true, is it)? --Ettrig (talk) 12:05, 28 September 2015 (UTC)
 * I have changed the sentence by saying mounds are commonly seen in certain regions. Burklemore1 (talk) 04:28, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

Isoptera-Behavior and Ecology
Please see the new article Isoptera-Behavior and Ecology. It was redirected to Termite, but that was reverted. jonkerz ♠talk 11:22, 22 April 2016 (UTC)
 * I've reinstated the redirect. We'll see if it sticks with this new user, but there's no reason to make an entirely separate page when it's already described as a core part of this article. Kingofaces43 (talk) 15:13, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Termite. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.jgi.doe.gov/education/bioenergy/bioenergy_4.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 18:45, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Did a few fixes, but should be good now. Burklemore1 (talk) 09:07, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

section 'shelter tubes' picture
the picture box contains this explanation: "Nasutiterminae shelter tubes on a tree trunk provide cover for the trail from nest to forest floor." - but there is something wrong with this: a single tube is seen to follow up the tree trunk and then branching to several tubes that continue up the tree branches. I dont know where the termite shelter is supposed to be (it is not seen on the picture), but if it is on one of the branches, then it is connected by ONE of the tubes to the forest floor and the other tubes are connecting the nest with the forest foliage-level, or perhaps with other nests on top of other tree branches. Please, if you have enough information to judge this, change the explanatory text in the picture box accordingly. 80.99.38.199 (talk) 16:59, 17 September 2017 (UTC).

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Termite. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100530162505/http://www.thornelab.umd.edu/Termite_PDFS/EvolutionEusocialityTermites.pdf to http://www.thornelab.umd.edu/Termite_PDFS/EvolutionEusocialityTermites.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141110052539/http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/termites/termite_ch2.htm to http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/termites/termite_ch2.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 21:57, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

"invasive" species
It would be useful to know in what countries this species of termite is considered invasive. A citation would be good too.) MargaretRDonald (talk) 20:47, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

"Early" English
What is meant here? How early? When? Clarification is needed... MargaretRDonald (talk) 20:50, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

Taxonomy section badly needs revision
The taxonomy section is very incoherent. Various sections do not comport with each other. For instance, the order Blattaria and the infraorder Isoptera are not figured anywhere in the tree - are these even correct?

According to the Entomological Association of America, termites are now categorized in the order Blattodea in several families, such as Kalotermitidae and Rhinotermitidae.

See further here: https://www.entsoc.org/common-names?title=&field_scientific_name_value=&tid=BLATTODEA&tid_1=&tid_2=&tid_3=&tid_4=

In any event, this section makes very little sense and is need of a serious overhaul.

Enbrightenment (talk) 20:23, 7 August 2018 (UTC)
 * I had a look and found that the taxonomic history was indeed a bit jumbled. There was also some inconsistency - but the taxobox does not seem to allow the easy addition of an epifamily. The cladogram however was accurately showing the current state of knowledge. I have however given a bit of an edit to improve the flow of sections. Do feel free to point out more specific issues. Shyamal (talk) 16:16, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

Economic importance of termites
Help in agriculture Oluwaseunifeoluwa (talk) 02:06, 9 August 2018 (UTC)

plagiarism from article in book
the section on etymology is exactly the same as the second paragraph of chapter 2 of "Termites and Food Security" verbatim. It looks like the book was published in 2018, but the paragraph has existed on wikipedia since at least January 5, 2015.Sbbarker19 (talk) 01:56, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

question
how big a mound can gets if the termites were as big as a human being ???

my classmate said it would be as tall as 30 thousand meter !

how accurate is this ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.236.140.192 (talk) 19:32, 19 January 2022 (UTC)