On Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:11:43 +1100, David Hare-Scott wrote:

"LindaB" wrote in message
news
Look a bit like Termites to me. Google "Termites" and then click the
Images option. Not exactly the same, but close.

Lindanope wrote:
yeh iwas thinking the same thing

i've done that and i couldnt find anything exactly like them.

i was a bit stressed that they may have been termites

they are only very tiny maybe at the largest being about 3mm long




I found the pic through google groups. They do look like termites, we
have some round here that are about that size. There are many species
round the world, you would need to be an expert to say exactly which
one.

Is your house timber? fade up music from the movie jaws

Maybe a problem if it is on a slab and soil etc is built up around it AND
the wood has been/is water affected. Or on piers and the ant caps are
not effective..

Also need to be the right species and as far as I know, that ain't them.

If OP says he smashed the log/stick open, and there was chambers in it,
then fine, but he said they were on dead grass. In daylight?

David

SG1 wrote
terryc wrote
David Hare-Scott wrote

Maybe it is my server

No, usenet doesn't take images except in binaries groups.
Idiots use google groups and think that is usenet.

Not exactly true. My provider (teranews) is not all that fussy about
binaries in a non-binary group but others like bigpong give you the
text only, that is why I was able to see the image in a text (only) group.

BTW how does one access google groups???

http://groups.google.com/advanced_se...l=en&q=&hl=en&

Its also deeper in the More options in the box in the top left of google itself, Groups.

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...
SG1 wrote
terryc wrote
David Hare-Scott wrote

Maybe it is my server

No, usenet doesn't take images except in binaries groups.
Idiots use google groups and think that is usenet.

Not exactly true. My provider (teranews) is not all that fussy about
binaries in a non-binary group but others like bigpong give you the
text only, that is why I was able to see the image in a text (only)
group.

BTW how does one access google groups???

http://groups.google.com/advanced_se...l=en&q=&hl=en&

Its also deeper in the More options in the box in the top left of google
itself, Groups.

Thanks Roddles, I try to avoid Google.

"nope" writes:
theyre actually gathered in a dead clump of grass which i whipper snipped
and poisoned a few weeks ago at the bottom of the hardwood stake thats in
in the pic .there is a tap there but i never use it so the soil underneath
isn't wet

Did anything conclusive come from this thread?

I know [some] termites will eat dead grass. If the ones in your photo
emerged from a termite run that you disturbed, I would expect to see
amongst them some with a resemblance to lobsters: large heads and big
pincers, these are the guards and they always emerge to confront me
when I probe a termite tunnel. Lacking defences, the workers, looking
very much like those in your pics, scurry back into the tunnel to
regroup and begin immediate repairs.

Without guards, I'd say you don't then have termites; at least, not the
sort of termites that I know.

I once witnessed a termite colony on the move along a beach. The line
of ants streamed from the bush and headed directly across the cool sand
to the shoreline where the sand had been left damp by a RETREATING tide.
It followed the damp sand for about 60 meters, then turned and headed
back into another patch of native bush. This occurred in the early
morning, before the sun hit the sand. I have no idea of the number of
individuals in the colony, as the line had already formed when I
chanced upon it, but it was fascinating to watch the tail end of the
stream as it slowly wended its way along the sand. The ants marched 5
or 6 abreast, as I recall; they were not in single file.

You probably won't believe this, but peppered among the throng at
approx one meter invervals were guards in military costume pounding on
tiny drums made of gumnuts ....
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

"John Savage" wrote in message
...
"nope" writes:
theyre actually gathered in a dead clump of grass which i whipper snipped
and poisoned a few weeks ago at the bottom of the hardwood stake thats in
in the pic .there is a tap there but i never use it so the soil underneath
isn't wet

Did anything conclusive come from this thread?

I know [some] termites will eat dead grass. If the ones in your photo
emerged from a termite run that you disturbed, I would expect to see
amongst them some with a resemblance to lobsters: large heads and big
pincers, these are the guards and they always emerge to confront me
when I probe a termite tunnel. Lacking defences, the workers, looking
very much like those in your pics, scurry back into the tunnel to
regroup and begin immediate repairs.

Without guards, I'd say you don't then have termites; at least, not the
sort of termites that I know.

I once witnessed a termite colony on the move along a beach. The line
of ants streamed from the bush and headed directly across the cool sand
to the shoreline where the sand had been left damp by a RETREATING tide.
It followed the damp sand for about 60 meters, then turned and headed
back into another patch of native bush. This occurred in the early
morning, before the sun hit the sand. I have no idea of the number of
individuals in the colony, as the line had already formed when I
chanced upon it, but it was fascinating to watch the tail end of the
stream as it slowly wended its way along the sand. The ants marched 5
or 6 abreast, as I recall; they were not in single file.

You probably won't believe this, but peppered among the throng at
approx one meter invervals were guards in military costume pounding on
tiny drums made of gumnuts ....

You are right I don't..........

--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)