Talk:Termite

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Termite is a former good article candidate. There are suggestions below for which areas need improvement to satisfy the good article criteria. Once the objections are addressed, the article can be renominated as a good article. If you disagree with the objections, you can seek a review.

Date of review: 22 October 2006

Can someone please move the photo at the end of the article so that no one will have to accidentally be exposed to such material? Or make the image appear after the user clicks a link. Optim 17:56, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Or, at least, find some way to let sensitive users hide the photo :) Optim 17:57, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Sensitive to pictures of bugs? People with phobias should take it upon themselves to be cautious, and if they are so sensitive they can't look at pictures of everyday creatures should probably get some kind of help. Or should we also avoid all pictures of open spaces and heights?

I can understand your reasoning, but you should know that a number of people don't like to see bugs, although they may like to know about them. Optim·.· 14:55, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Social Structure and Behaviour

I question the extent to which termites are examples of "decentralised, self-organised systems" given that the terminary dies immediately if the queen is killed. ChrisKennedy 05:10, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Usually not neccessarily, termites, depending on the species have a sub-caste known as supplementaries which are able to replace a dead queen or king. As an ameteur of termite study, I have destroyed termite mounds to find and capture a queen. Years later I returned to find the exact same mound flourishing again. This may be due to either the above mentioned suppementary sub-caste or due to other alates from another nest making the half eaten tree a new nest. - Darth Trini

[edit] Adapation

I would please like to know the adaptation of the king termite on the funtion of the queen termite

[edit] External Links

'Termite.com' link looks like self-promotion, but I left it just in case I'm wrong. Peter Grey 14:10, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Divisions

The article should be sub-divided into sections. It is easier to read that way. Rintrah 12:56, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] physogastric queens

The text states that "In physogastric species, the queen adds an extra set of ovaries with each moult". My understanding was that insects do not molt after reaching maturity (as defined by by sexual reproduction and wings; Ephemeroptera are a partial exceptino). Reference????

[edit] closer to ants?

"Termites are highly modified, social, wood-eating cockroaches": but isn't that jumping out of the family of ants and bees, into a different family... --Jidanni 2006-04-15

Ants belong to a totally different family order called hymenoptera, whereas termites are isoptera. So there is more in common with cockroaches than ants biologically. - DarthTrini.

== Miscategorized metamorphosis? */ "Termites undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with their freshly hatched young taking the form of tiny termites that grow without significant morphological changes." Useful, perhaps, but why is it in the Soldiers section? Octavo 18:30, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mounds

I think the section on Mounds should be categorized as a stub in its current state. I'm puzzled that the subject of the Termite Mounds, which I find amazing - but unfortunately does not have enough expertise to write about myself - is not explored in more depth, but only mentioned in very broad terms. I urge people to extend that section - or perhaps "Termite Mounds" should be a topic on its own? Robbiedsl 27 Jun 2006

[edit] Holes?

I think my house has termites but I'm not sure if the holes are right...it should specify what the holes look like in the article (the picture of wood damage desn't clearly show the shape of the holes). Thanks. SoaP 19:47, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Relationships and evolutionary history

The evidence of termites in the Triassic is circumstantial, based on the interpretation of certain fossil structures as termite mounds. It may very well be true but the oldest direct evidence of termites in the fossil record is from the Cretaceous (although the diversity of termites in the Cretaceous suggests they evolved at some earlier point). The article should reflect this uncertainty. I would also question the identification of "termite" wings from the Permian, especially using such an outdated reference. I suspect that today these wings would probably be interpreted as belonging to the group called "roachoids" by Grimaldi, which is the ancestral group from which modern roaches, mantids, and termites evolved. MrDarwin 13:05, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] GA review

GA review (see here for criteria)
  1. It is well written.
    a (prose): b (structure): c (MoS): d (jargon):
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references): b (inline citations): c (reliable): d (OR):
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    a (fair representation): b (all significant views):
  5. It is stable.
  6. It contains images, where possible, to illustrate the topic.
    a (tagged and captioned): b (lack of images does not in itself exclude GA): c (non-free images have fair use rationales):
  • The article contains a lot of terms not fully defined, especially for me as a non native english speaker do not fully understand some jargon used in the article.
  • The image Image:Termite damaged wood.jpg has a unasserted copyright, must be fixed.
  • More inline citations should be used, but the criteria 2b is objectable at the moment, so it's ok for the moment.

Placing article on hold 7 days. →AzaToth 12:29, 12 October 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Heat Exchanger?

I have heard that the shell of termites works as a heat exchanger in many ways..but have not been able to find any articles/websites/papers about the same..does anybody have any idea about the same? Ganesh 12:00, 21st Oct 2006 (IST)

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