Laurie Meyers, age 9, of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, for her question:

What do termites eat?

Termites eat mostly plant food, and any kind of plant food will do. A lot of other insects eat leaves, soft roots and tender twigs. But none of them can eat tough woody stalks and tree trunks. This is because wood is made of a very tough stuff called cellulose. Only the termites can digest cellulose. So the crawly little termites can eat wood—and this is one of their favorite foods.

Actually the termites themselves cannot digest wood. But living inside their tummies there are tiny creatures, too small for our eyes to see. They are somewhat like the mini creatures called protozoa that cause wood and other things to rot and decay in the ground. These special protozoa break up the tough wood inside a termite and help him to digest task