78 



JUNGLE ISLAND 



Sometimes the termites eat into living trees 

 and kill them. Coconut palms and even sugar 

 cane are damaged by them, but more often they 

 feed on dead timber. This is the reason why 

 they are so frequently found in fence posts and 

 buildings. They are eating up the wood, leaving 

 nothing but a shell. Nothing escapes their attack. 



Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture 



Fig. 36. Hard beech wood from drawer of a desk damaged 

 by termites in a building in Ancon 



They eat telegraph poles, houses, railroad ties, 

 bridges, furniture, ships, books (Fig. 35). 



They destroy wood and timber worth millions 

 of dollars every year (Fig. 36). Only recently the 

 government of the United States spent ten thou- 

 sand dollars repairing the damage that termites 

 had done to one building, the Hotel Tivoli, in 

 Ancon, which is owned and managed by the 

 government. 



