FLOORING BOARDS

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 16, 20 January 1939, Page 10

FLOORING BOARDS

SUBURBAN HOME. ATTACK BY TERMITES. NEST UNDER BUILDING. (Irooved like a pencil cusp, but with not i in* samp symmetry as is achieved with machinery, floor hoards were removed liv workmen from an Auckland ~iil mi r I»i ii homo yesterday after they liail lieen attacked hy what, arc l>plie\eil to lie millions of Mibtprranpan termite-. Sncli i> tlic menace of widespread <1 e-1 met ion to property ltv these insects thai Mr. A. Watson. all Auckland builder and contractor, proposes to wend >11 in phi- of llie-e termites to the Cnwlliroii lin-tilute for ident iticatioii. find Mr. A. S. Ixiclianjs. M.l'. for Koskill, ha- promised to bring to t lie attention o| members of (lie Cabinet t lie ruvage* •• t" which they are capable. That there is cause for pel'turbation is re\ealed by the fact that two year* iiL'o il was e-tiiiiated that in the I'nited States the termite was causing; CII.'i.MUMMt of damage annually in lii States. Kurt herni'irc. in '2li years' experience in tile building trade. Mr. Watson has neser pre\iou-ly di-covered the existence of the subterranean tei ■ mite, although lie states that the di>wooil termite in recent years has become (piite prevalent. The subterranean -pecips is dpclarpd to be the more destructive of the two: comparat i\el\ -•peaking, the common borer is harm less. Honeycombed Nest. The termites in Auckland hitherto ha\e been Incited ill wood only, but those seen yc-tcrday were operating on a. large scale from a honeycombed lies: eighteen inches high from ground level and two feet in diameter similar to a white ant hill. This net witgrafted on to a joi-t under the flooring, and from this the termites had attacked lir-lly the lloor boards in the entrain e hall and then spread their activities to the flooring in the -it ting room. From a -uperlii ial evilmina' ion. it was est imatcil that, they had caused Cl.~<o worth ol d linage in this house alone. All types of woods American. .Australian and New Zealand used in the inlaid floor pattern hail been given attention by the insects. On the surface, the timbers appeared to lie in | erfect condition. There were no holes showing in the way one iiccu-tompd to the ravages of the borer woulj expect, but it was possible to make dents in thp wood with one's thumb. The menace is all the more rpal for flip very rpason Unit it is hiddpti. fer the termite 1 wires from within, making its way grimly and unceasingly through tunnels in the dead wood in search of food.

Seriousness of Pest. Mr. Watson stated that he desired to bring to the notice of property owners tlie seriousness of the termite pest. It would pay people, indeed, to look under their houses and test the woods for hollowness. Fifteen yenr* ago he knew of one case of property having lieeti attacked by the dry-wood termite, whereas in the last twelve months he had had dozens of cases to attend to. In the present case, it was very fortunate that the nest had been located, but it was (juite possible that, there were other nests under the same building. The seriousness of the pest could quite readily be appreciated when ho pointed out. that the female termite was capable of living 84.(MM) ciip* daily, and maintaining this rate of breeding for five years. "I have not encountered the subterranean termite previously, but the dry-wood species is getting prevalent," concluded Mr. Watson. "The bad feature of the matter is that of the subterranean termite .is worse than his relative." Mr. Richards was amazed at the samples of affected wood and the millions of termites which were revealed when their honeycombed nest, had been broken up, and lie readily acceded to a request to bring the danger of the pest to the notice of members of the < iovernment. It was explained to him that the crawling army of insects would be dispatched with a special liquid and that wood could be impregnated so as to resist attacks by them. 4000 in Cubic Foot of Wood. As many as 4(XM) termites, it is stated by an authority, have been found eating in one cubic foot of wood. Once started the colony is exceedingly difficult to exterminate for. inch by inch, they move to a new food supply when the old one is exhausted. The encyclopaedia points out that termites (termitidae) are a family of insects often, but erroneously, called white ants. Like the true ant, however, the termites are social insects, living in colonies, and building large nests. These ,communities reach M\eir maximum size and importance in South Africa, but the termites are v idely distributed, some species occurring in South Europe. The species which lias always roused most interest is Te: M ncs bellicosus of Africa. This species lorms very large nests, sometimes 20ft high, built of decayed and digested wood, and from its subterranean passages extends in all directions. Within the nests occur four different kinds of individuals — (I) workers, which may be either sex, (2) soldiers. (3) winged males and females, whose destiny it is to leave the colony apparently with the object of founding new communities, and (4) a royal pair, consisting of a male and a female, which have lost the, wings which they originally possessed. The termites taken from the suburban home were greyish white and about a quarter of an inch long, but ill Tonnes bellicosus the queen, or fertile female, is enormously large as compared with the other forms, reaching a length of from two to five inches. She is also exceedingly fertile, producing 00 eggs a minute, and being, for an insect, very long lived.