A team of Taiwanese and US scientists warned of “super termites” after a three-year study suggested that two destructive subterranean species are producing hybridized offspring in the wild.
This research, which consisted of lab tests and a three-year field study in Taiwan, was published in the March issue of Heredity.
Coauthor Lee Hou-feng (李後鋒), a professor of etymology at National Chung Hsin University, said last week that the research conducted by the team showed that the two common invasive termite species are 100 percent more fertile and resilient to climate conditions.
Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei Times
Taiwanese subterranean termites and Asian subterranean termites are deemed the world’s most invasive termite species, causing economic damage worth tens of billions of US dollars every year, he said.
The University of Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center previously proved via lab tests that the two termite species have the potential to reproduce fertile hybrids, Lee said.
Taiwanese scientists picked up the research since the two species have for centuries coexisted in Taiwan, a unique proximity not duplicated anywhere else in the world, he said.
Working in collaboration with citizen scientists and companies in the pest control industry, The research team between 2019 and 2021 collected numerous samples of flying termites in Taichung, Chiayi and Yunlin, he said.
The team focused their efforts on these jurisdictions because they showed the highest degree of overlap between the two species, Lee said.
An analysis found that 5 percent of the gathered samples display the traits of Formosan and Asia subterranean termites while being of an intermediate color and size, he said.
The superior fecundity and adaptability to humidity and temperature conditions of the super termites might spell trouble for humans, but an accurate risk assessment would require closer observation, he said.
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