A Morphometric Study of Termite Species and their Uses by the Ethnic Tribes in Morigaon District of Assam, India

Abstract

Termites are very small, polymorphic and social insects belonging to the order Isoptera of the class Insecta. Only two species of termites Odontotermes obesus (Rambur) and Odontotermes feae (Wasmann) have been discovered in Morigaon District of Assam during the present survey. The size of Odontotermes obesus is smaller than that of Odontotermes feae. The total body length of soldiers of O. obesus and O. feae   are found in the range of (5.0-6.0 )mm and (7.0-8.5) mm respectively. The head-mandible indices of soldiers of O. obesus and O. feae are found in the range of (0.55-0.61) and (0.49-0.56) respectively. The number of antennal segments of soldiers of O. feae is 17 while that of O. obesus is 16.

Though these termites are known for pests their alates are used as occasional food by the tribes of Kachari, Karbi and Tiwa.. The different castes of termites along with their nests are used as food for fishes. Their mound-soil is also used for layering the bamboo walls of thatched houses.