Question

there are about 10 times as many termites as people on earth. what is the total mass of termites on earth? if all termites were gathered up together side by side, how much area would they cover? if we turned to them as a major food source, how much protein could be made available for our diet?

Answer 1

For every person on the earth, there are 1,000 pounds of termites. Termites, which number about 2,750 species, are distributed widely. Its greatest abundance in numbers and species in tropical rainforests around the world.

Termites are so numerous that they make up 10% of all animal biomass and 95% of soil and insect biomass in tropical regions.­If you put every termite on earth on a scale at once, their total combined weight would be 445 million tons.While we humans would weigh 350 million tons only.

Many people of different cultures  eat termites either for nutrition or as a cure for sickness. Termites are rich in iron, calcium, fatty and amino acids, and proteins, making them a highly nutritious food.

• Macu Indians eat termites when there is not enough food thanks to drought.
• In Singapore, people eat termite queens either live or dipped in alcohol(Some also soak in rice wine).
• In Amazon, some people make a soup of boiled termites and sugar as a cure for whooping cough and they breathe the smoke of burning termite nests to get rid of the flu.

Termite castes.

Termites generally consist of up to 38 percent protein. A particular Venezuelan species, Syntermes aculeosus, have highest protein 64 percent.

At least 45 species of termites, belonging to four families, are used in the world.  Among that, 43 species used in human diet and/or in livestock feeding and 9 termite species are used as a therapeutic resource. There is an overlapping use of 7 species. Among the species used in human and/or livestock diet, the species Macrotermes bellicosus stood out, with a record of usage in several countries, especially in Africa.

  Termites are extremely beneficial in that they help to convert plant cellulose into substances that can be recycled into the ecosystem to support new growth.