Tok-tok-tok! This piece of wood is sweet!
2005/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
According to a study conducted in Australia, termites decide whether or not they like the sound of the wood, that is, according to the vibration (they are blind and able to detect vibrations with antennas and legs).
Depending on the size of the wood, the tone of the sound is higher or more severe, and some types of termites prefer small pieces of wood and others large.
To carry out the research, researchers at the University of New South Wales have recorded the sound that Cryptotermes domesticus termites extract when eating wood; and they have seen that pieces of wood of different sizes produce a very different sound: 7.2 kHz for small fragments of 20 mm x 20 mm and 2.8 kHz for long stretches of 20 mm x 160 mm.
The recordings received have been tested and have proven that C. domesticus prefers high frequency vibrations, small fractions.
