Most Dangerous Termites Species Hyrbids Threaten to Overrun Florida

Hybrids from two of world's most destructive species of termites, which until now did not interbreed, threaten to overrun Florida researchers warn.

Hybrids produced by Asian and Formosan termites can grow twice as fast as their progenitors. Until recently, researchers believed that the two species had different swarming seasons and did not interbreed. Not only have the swarming seasons overlapped, researchers found that Asian males seem to prefer Formosan females than females of their own species.

"Because a termite colony can live up to 20 years with millions of individuals, the damaging potential of a hybrid colony remains a serious threat to homeowners even if the hybrid colony does not produce fertile winged termites. This is especially true when the colony exhibits hybrid vigor as we witnessed in the laboratory," said  Nan-Yao Su, an entomologist at University of Florida, who cultivated hybrids in lab to see them grow.

Hybrids in many species of animals are sterile and it is not known if the Asian-Formosan hybrids are fertile. That notwithstanding, a generation of hybrids can greatly increase the $ 40 billion damage that termites now cause.

"The establishment of hybrid termite populations is expected to result in dramatically increased damage to structures in the near future," said Thomas Chouvenc, an assistant researcher, adding that if the hybrids are fertile, they could inherit the invasive traits of the two species and spread beyond Florida.