Spent today in Prof Meier's lab w my eco group attempting to ID the ants we collected from all over NUS... Not much success but at least we now have a list of characteristics to go by when we look at the identification key(s) ^^
Well.... in relation to that, JQ and mom found some insects in the 3rd level bathroom... Their heads kinda look like wat I had been looking at all day, but the body division was quite different from that of an ant.... Nice str antennae, nice big humongous butt, and not as distinct thorax and abdomen regions... Mom got worried about them being TERMITES... Juan goes online to search for termite identification guides, and comes across this site that has a nice large picture of the termite royal couple. The adult male termite on the left looks EXACTLY like the 10 plus insects that we managed to catch (and half squish at the same time), so... Plus, the same site states that termites have relatively straight antennae and thicker waists as compared to ants that have bent (elbow-like) antennae and narrow waists.... Uh oh... Another site says something abt their swarming period being from early Mar til May (tho' since it is a US site, I have no idea if the same can be said of Singapore) Since Juan is NOT an entomologist (neither is she aspiring to be one), she doesn't know wat to make out of this whole thing... Oh well.... Really hope that this is not some termite infestation (an infestation w a whole bunch of NOT worker or soldiers but MALE termites?!?) but just a bunch of stray (and lost!) males....
Well.... in relation to that, JQ and mom found some insects in the 3rd level bathroom... Their heads kinda look like wat I had been looking at all day, but the body division was quite different from that of an ant.... Nice str antennae, nice big humongous butt, and not as distinct thorax and abdomen regions... Mom got worried about them being TERMITES... Juan goes online to search for termite identification guides, and comes across this site that has a nice large picture of the termite royal couple. The adult male termite on the left looks EXACTLY like the 10 plus insects that we managed to catch (and half squish at the same time), so... Plus, the same site states that termites have relatively straight antennae and thicker waists as compared to ants that have bent (elbow-like) antennae and narrow waists.... Uh oh... Another site says something abt their swarming period being from early Mar til May (tho' since it is a US site, I have no idea if the same can be said of Singapore) Since Juan is NOT an entomologist (neither is she aspiring to be one), she doesn't know wat to make out of this whole thing... Oh well.... Really hope that this is not some termite infestation (an infestation w a whole bunch of NOT worker or soldiers but MALE termites?!?) but just a bunch of stray (and lost!) males....
No comments:
Post a Comment