Urban subterranean termite
The urban subterranean termite is a small termite that lives in huge underground families. It comes from the coast of the Balkans, but people accidentally carried it to towns in Italy and France. There it chews the wood inside old houses and churches.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
In the French town of Domène, one single termite family spread over nearly 7 hectares, about as big as 10 football pitches.
In that giant family there were about 2,200 termites in every square metre of ground.
In the Italian town of Bagnacavallo it damaged eight churches and four monasteries full of old artworks. It took 15 years to get rid of it.
A new colony needs at least 20 workers to survive. Smaller groups die out.
Only about 5 to 8 out of every 100 termites in a colony are soldiers.
Most asked questions about Urban subterranean termite
?Is the urban subterranean termite dangerous?
Not to people. It cannot hurt you, but it can damage wooden buildings and furniture.
?What does the urban subterranean termite eat?
Wood, including the wood inside old houses and churches.
?Where does the urban subterranean termite come from?
From the Balkan coast. People carried it by accident to Italy and France.
Myth buster
Myth: Termites are white ants.
Truth: No. Termites are close cousins of cockroaches, not ants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Reticulitermes urbis
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Heterotermitidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Heterotermitidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Reticulitermes urbis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by milan kořínek. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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