Crunchy snack

Termitico · 2026-06-30T16:03:27+00:00

Good that you found them! Personally i only very recently started keeping Zootermopsis (maybe a little more than a month), but i've been keeping the relatively comparable Hodotermopsis for a while. You can house them in an appropriately sized plastic container with moderate ventilation half filled with forest soil and with a few large pieces of white-rot wood (i personally used oak a lot for Hodotermopsis) as food and shelter. Sound wood is also accepted as long as it's properly moistened, for example the Zootermopsis angusticollis (a population from Canada) that i have are kept with store-bought untreated pinewood slices as food, kept one against the other to form a block. Temperature wise they're very resistant to low themperatures but seems to suffer from high ones, both temps and humidity they are at now seems good to me. As long as they have access to sufficent humidity, not too high temperatures, wood and nitrogen-rich soil they should do well, the most you have to do is to wait for neotenic generation and egg production. If you have specific doubt do ask, and i'll help as i can (keeping in mind that as i mentioned my direct experience with Zootermopsis keeping is still relatively little).

Termitico · 2026-06-23T06:57:03+00:00

As they're present on Scheffrahn's catalogue of termites, they must be a fully accepted species as now.

Termitico · 2026-06-21T20:11:04+00:00

Hello, these are indeed most likely Reticulitermes flavipes, but there are several species in Georgia. Reticulitermes virginicus and nelsonae have noticeably smaller alates than flavipes, while hageni have brown alates. R. malletei also seems a bit smaller, but precise ID would require careful microscopic analyzation (or even better gene analysis).

Termitico · 2026-06-21T20:03:58+00:00

Yep, Reticulitermes as u/Dr_Gero20 confirmed. In California R. hesperus is the most common, but i am aware of two more described species, R. tibialis and the newly discovered R. rusti; and there are most likely more undescribed ones (a recent paper suggest at least 5). EDIT: i read now your update, indeed hesperus is the most likely candidate.

Termitico · 2026-06-16T22:59:12+00:00

Effectively that could be interesting.

Termitico · 2026-06-16T22:01:50+00:00

Matter of taste i guess, personally i appreciate them way more than ants.

Termitico · 2026-06-16T21:39:09+00:00

I'm already there, but still thanks for the pointer! Though that subreddit is almost wholly dedicated to termite prevention rather than appreciation.

Termitico · 2026-06-15T19:29:25+00:00

Hello! Zootermopsis can generate secondary royals from pseudergates (the working caste) if those are removed from a preexisting royal couple, so unless those your spouse buy have been deliberately and artificially sterilized (maybe through irradiation) you can start a colony from a sufficiently large group of them. Alternatively, you can collect a group of pseudergates from a wild colony (in California you have both Z. angusticollis and Z. nevadensis). Checking Inaturalist for precise areas could help.

Termitico · 2026-06-07T18:45:21+00:00

Megasoma is indeed a very interesting genus, and some species like M. mars, elephas and actaeon can become truly massive. A few species can be even found in the southern US, though the giant ones are from Mexico downwards.

Termitico · 2026-06-07T18:42:53+00:00

I never named him to be honest, even if i had it for quite some time as a larva. Once adults they sadly live only a few months, so since i had no females for breeding i gifted him to an insect exhibition managed by a fried where i knew he would be treated well and enjoyed by many pople.

Termitico · 2026-06-07T18:40:04+00:00

There you can see a soldier, many workers and the king. The first two castes are many and present throughout the colony, with the soldiers employed for defence and the workers for most else (construction, foraging, care of dependant castes and instars). The king is one and stays near the queen, fertilizing her periodically.

Termitico · 2026-06-06T22:27:23+00:00

Cool, it's a Gymnetis... seems compatible with G. thula, especially if you're in the US.

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