Monday, July 9, 2007

ISA HK/China ---Termites Talk

Dear All,

Owing to popular request (or pressure) from Station Members, this Station has carried out research on the insidious insect of Termite, which seems to have been a horror among Property Management & Govt agencies in HK.

In reality, Termites are no horrible insects than any others like mosquitoes or houseflies. They have been around for millions of years & there are several hundred kinds of Termites in the world. Contrary to popular belief, Termites are not ants but closely related to cockroaches. In fact, ants are their enemy & Termites would build a mud covering to protect themselves from ant attack.

In a way, Termites are beneficial insects which chew & digest fallen wood, & turn them into compost for natural recycling. Termites are one of the very few insects on earth which can digest cellulose & are themselves part of the food chain in our ecology. Termites particularly like decayed wood with high moisture content. Live wood has alleleopathic chemicals in them & would normally fend off most kinds of Termites.

The most common kind of subterranean Termite found in HK is the Coptotermes formosanus, or more commonly known as the Formosan Termite which originated in Southern China. This Termite is now a nightmare in the USA & Australia where 95% of the houses are made with wood. Formosan Termites are highly secretive in their existence & they are powerful in their destruction. By the time discovery is made of them, the wooden structures are usually damaged beyond repair.

In tree production, Termites do not appear to be a major problem among tree nurseries which practice good hygiene. In the ISA Tree Farm of the undersigned in China where by now 20,000 trees are grown in 60 varieties, no Termite activity has been detected since operation 3 years ago. However, in some of the project sites of the undersigned where dead trees were retained as a Govt requirement by contract, Termite problem had been serious despite hard efforts of the pest control companies to eradicate them, simply because dead wood had to be retained on site for political reasons.

There is a very good commercial movie with sound giving an introduction to Termites as follows:

www.exterrathemovie.com/

This movie was made by a Termite product company with good description on their activities & control. Please note most commercial advertisement would not give unbiased view on the insect, but would rather emphasize on the harms that Termites would do for specific purposes. For better information still on this subject, consultation with entomologists are recommended, e.g. our universities & AFCD. Some overseas universities such as University of Florida & University of Massachusetts have carried out extensive research on Termites & information can also be sought from them.

Termites are not monsters & their existence is essential to our ecological balance. All we need to do is to learn how to live with them, & to turn them into friendly neighbours instead of deadly enemies.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

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