The more you read about termites, and I suppose any other pest, the more interesting and strange facts, you tend to come across. Not sure you can really believe all of them, but even so they do provide some mild entertainment, whilst doing research.

Here are a few crazy ones I have come across recently, which may raise a few eyebrows:

Termites eat through wood two times faster when listening to rock music – all I can say is I wish I could have been there at that experiment, sounds much more fun than the science projects I had in college! I doubt this is scientifically proven, but apparently termites are very sensitive to and really enjoy vibrations and rock music does have bucket loads of that!

Termites never sleep – This is true apparently and means they are working 24/7 eating through the wood in your property. So, it would be wise to get a free termite inspection asap!

Termites are responsible for global warming – this is true too. A by-product of a termite’s digestion is methane, a greenhouse gas. And all this time we blamed our poor cows – I am very sorry!

Termites taste like Brazil nuts – It seems in some countries, like Africa, humans also eat termites – roasted, dried and even fried. It is a cheap source of protein. Not sure you can say this is a fact, as everyone has different tastes, but thank goodness, they did not say it tastes like chicken, which is what everything supposedly tastes of! (Danusia wrote a post about entomophagy, the practice of eating insects)

Anteaters prefer termites to ants – well, it is true that they feed on both termites and ants but I have not come across any scientific research talking about their true preference.

Would be interested to hear any other crazy facts or fiction about termites!