Termites Are Actually Shrunken Cockroaches and Other Things About Them You Really Don’t Want to Know

Uh, what about the fact that if it weren't for termites we'd be all be buried under rotting wood?

These comments are blanking fascinating. I’d rather read a whole book of comments on the termite book and see where we end up. Ready set go!

Fortunately, I've never had any problems with termites and hope this record continues. Actually, I'm more interested in how much of a despicable, destructive nuisance they are to the majority of mankind. That said, I must admit to describing people for whom I have the least respect as, you guessed it, termites! Enjoy the book ...

I agree with sentiments below that this review is more like a teaser to but the book. I have seen these mounds in subsahara Africa including Botswana. Now, will have a different pair of glasses when I come upon them.

I've been waging a two week war against a cockroach invasion in my home, it's been a nightmare but I think I've won with some strategic gel poison- that is until those disgusting pests reclaim the earth when we humans have wiped ourselves out.

I wish this article went a little deeper then it did and provided with greater detail about her findings then it did. Wish New York times was not so simplistic.

Is this saying termites are actually members of the cockroach family, or is that just a metaphor? I want to hear more about that. This article is so short it reads like a teaser for the book.

That review got trippy. I was waiting for the author to explain their termite religious experience. Good point about anthropomorphising insects. The big thing in, say, the 1970’s, was anth’ing dogs. But dogs’ brains are like human brains, so anthropomorphising dogs was, at least a bit, legit. I suppose that the colonies without any welfare at all do best. And I suppose that the colonies that keep outsiders out do best. Termites are republican, and better for it.

In special forces a reknown scientist told us that there is more tonnage per acre of high quality protein and fat in the termite colonies of the southwestern deserts than on the cattle grazing on the finest grasslands on earth! We learned to eat termite, the grubs in rotten wood, and earthworms among other insects. Note, as with delicious, nutritious cockroaches, bite off the heads and rip off the wings and legs before swallowing them alive. Having one bite into your esophagus is not wise. “Insects and Human Nutrition” is a classic.

Ha, ha, ha! The writier thinks that we humans can learn from other animal species. Most human don't have the sense that evolution gave and domestication took away from sheep. That's why in the Gospels, the Good Shepherd held up the lowly domestic sheep as His example of what a "good" human should be like. Jesus knew us humans pretty well.

I think it is silly to describe termites as "beasts". Beasts are usually defined as four footed mammals.

This seems to me reminiscent of the series of weirdo but intersting books written by Mary Roach for the last 20 or so years. I must have it!

I read the excerpt from this book in the recent New Yorker. Termites are very, very interesting creatures and deserve our attention and research.

This week's New Yorker has an excellent review article on the topic and Marginelli's book, called "Busy Bodies." These critters are remarkable!

"the termite bucks basic biological rules and thumbs its nose at science as much as it does homeowners." What utter nonsense.

I might have considered reading this book, but when I learned that much of it some sort of attempt at applying insect society to explain or presage present/future civilization, that was a distinct turnoff. Enough with anthropomorphism.

Cockroaches are not social insects like termites who have queens, so they can't be very closely related.