Photos courtesy of Charles Bridges, PhD student in Prof. Gage's lab 

Photos show UConn Microbiology graduate students involved in the termite project hunting for termites in a local woods.

When you roll over a log, look fast, because the termites do not like light and they will scurry away quickly. In the photos below, the arrows point to termites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a good idea to have a partner to help with the larger logs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the plastic bag full of moistened traps in the photo at left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Termites scatter rapidly when you flip the log. There were dozens here, but only a few were left by the time I could take a picture. The white rod-shaped creatures with the arrows pointing to them are the termites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more termites, shown in the photo on the left. This was a smaller collection and most had vanished before a picture could be taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo at right shows a placed trap before the log was put back on top of it. Notice that the log is not very rotten. The bark has come off, but rot is only visible on the underside.

A trap was placed under this log because termites were found under it. Notice that rather small logs can have termites. For a small termite, this is a huge meal!

 

 

 

When you place a trap, put a brightly colored plastic ribbon in a nearby branch so you can find the trap later.