Christina Newton
CRN #13946
Termite Lab Report
Introduction
Termites are insects that feed on dead plant material. Many types of termites build ginormous
nests. These are created by the worker termites, which are mainly blind. How are they able to
build their nests when they are unable to see? If termites are put on a piece of paper with
different writing utensil lines drawn on it, will they follow a specific one, or any of them? If so,
how long and how many termites will follow the lines?
Hypothesis
I think the termites will choose the pen over any of the other writing utensils.
Materials and Methods
Materials
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Blue ballpoint ink pen
Black Sharpie
Lead pencil
White paper
Petri dish
Scissors
Timer
Worker Termites
Methods
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Cut the paper into circles that will fit inside the petri dish.
Trace equal circles using the pen, Sharpie, and pencil on three different paper circles.
Put three termites in each petri dish.
Observe their movements and count how many termites are following the circle in fifteen
second increments for one minute.
Independent variables: Black Sharpie, blue ballpoint ink pen, lead pencil
Dependent variable: Number of termites following the circle
Standardized Variables: Size of the circle, amount of termites in each dish, timing, type of
termites used
Uncontrolled variable: Motivation of termites to actually move and not try to eat the paper.
Control group: Plain paper
Prediction
If blue ballpoint ink pen is used, then more termites will follow the ink pen rather than the other
writing utensils.
Results
Every time the termites were counted, the ink pen circle had the most termites on it. They did not
really care about the other circles. Once or twice there were termites following one of the other
circles, but it was not for long. They seem to like the ink pen the best. Data tables and pictures
are on the following pages.
Conclusions
The conclusion of this experiment is that the termites will follow the blue ballpoint pen over the
other writing utensils; however, the experiment should be repeated more times before more
accurate conclusions can be made. Unfortunately, there could be errors in measurement of how
many were actually following the circles. According to Dr. Hodgins on the TV show, Bones, the
reason why they followed the ink is that “termites are guided by pheromones, so the [blue] ink in
the pen mimics the characteristics of their trail-making pheromones.” My hypothesis about why
they followed the circles was similar to pheromones, which was they could smell the ink. Alas,
one of the termites in the ink pen petri dish got semi-squished and refused to move anywhere.
The experiment could be improved by having more consistencies with the termites and better
measurements.
References
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Season 9, Episode 20- ‘The High in the Low’ of Bones
Data Table
Time (seconds)
Blue ballpoint ink
pen (# of termites)
Sharpie
(# of termites)
Pencil
(# of termites)
15
2
0
0
30
1
0
0
45
2
0
0
60
2
1
0
Graph
Termites
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
15
30
Blue ballpoint ink pen (# of termites)
Pencil (# of termites)
45
Sharpie (# of termites)
60
Pictures
This is from the initial
observation of the termites.
These are three petri dishes from the actual experiment.
If one looks closely, the termites are on the blue ink pen
circle.