Termites (Microtermes Obesi: Termitidae) and Their Nutritional Role with Special Reference to Assam

Termites are usually the most dominant arthropods in tropical forest habitat. Microtermes obesi (termite) is a small species of termite of the genus Microtermes. It is native to India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Vietnam. It is a major pest of wheat and minor pest of sugarcane. Termites are usually roasted and eaten as food, mostly during the rainy season. Termites (Order: Isoptera) considered as serious pests of agricultural, horticultural and plantation crops including forest trees. The habit of eating termites and its eggs among the ethnic tribes in Assam minimises the use of pesticides on crops to kill termites and its eggs and larvae. Bio-chemical composition showed that various forms of Microtermes obesi contain protein, lipid and considerable amount of carbohydrate. These species of termite ‘Microtermes obesi’ have high amount of indispensible mineral elements. The protein content of the worker termites was higher than those of larvae, Queen and workers. Calcium is the highest amount of mineral element found in workers of termites. The queen, solders and larvae of termites have also large amount of calcium. Meanwhile, all the forms of termites found more amounts of important mineral contents such as magnesium, zinc and iron.