SS3 Biology Lesson Note on Different Castes of Termites and their Roles

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DIFFERENT CASTES OF TERMITES AND THEIR ROLES

Termites are social animals. They live in highly organized groups. They usually live in underground tunnels. Termites feed on cellulose thereby damaging wooden materials, crops and young trees. They help in maintaining soil fertility by breaking down dead materials into humus.

Termites in a colony

A colony of termites is made up of the following castes:

1. Queen and King: These are the reproductive members of the castes with the responsibility of mating and laying eggs. There is always only one king and one queen at any point in time though there could be other fertile potential kings and queens. A fully grown queen is about 9cm long.
2. Workers: There are sterile females with no eyes, soft and pale exoskeleton and well developed mouthparts. Workers are responsible for building the termitarium, searching for and bringing in food for other members in colony. They also tend fungal gardens, collect eggs and care for the nymphs structural adaptations for regulating body temperature. After eating they regurgitate the partially digested food to feed the other members of the colony.
3. Soldiers: These are sterile, blind and wingless males with large heads, thick exoskeletons and huge mandibles. They are responsible for protecting the colony from invaders and also protect the workers as they gather food for the colony.

EVALUATION

1. What is a caste?
2. Name, describe and state the functions of the individuals that make up a termite caste.
3. What is/are the economic importance of termites?

SUB-TOPIC 5: DIFFERENT CASTES OF BEES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

A honey bee colony lives in a hive.

It is composed of:

1. a single queen,
2. a few hundred drones and
3. several thousand workers.

Bees undergo complete metamorphosis unlike termites which undergo incomplete metamorphosis.

Drones hatch from unfertilized eggs. The drones are responsible for fertilizing eggs.

The queen and workers hatch from fertilized eggs. Larvae feeding on pollen grains and honey become workers. If fed on royal jelly which contains vitamins, a larva develops into a queen.

The queen then secretes a queen substance that suppresses the development of ovaries in the workers.

The queen does the service of reproduction to replenish the castes.

The workers labour for the colony.

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