Mengenal Lebih Dekat Kerajaan Rayap

1. Ratu

Ratu rayap dapat hidup sampai dengan 20 tahun, bahkan lebih. Dan selama hidupnya ratu hanya bertelur dan tetap berada di inti sarang dan tidak keluar sampai akhir hayatnya. Hanya ada satu ratu di setiap koloni rayap. Ukuran ratu Macrotermes dewasa dapat sebesar jempol pria dewasa bahkan lebih.

Meskipun belum dapat dibuktikan secara ilmiah, ratu rayap dipercaya dapat menentukan masa depan nimfa entah itu akan menjadi pekerja, laron atau prajurit dengan menggunakan frekuensi suara tertentu yang di kirimkan kepada nimfa.

2. Raja

Berbeda dengan raja semut yang segera mati setelah tak lama menghasilkan keturunan dengan ratu semut, raja rayap menemani sang ratu rayap seumur hidupnya. Ukuran raja rayap pada umumnya hanya 1/10 dari ukuran ratu rayap. Ukuran raja rayap hanya bertambah sedikit setelah menemani sang ratu. Dalam satu koloni hanya ada satu ratu dan raja.

3. Nimfa

Nimfa merupakan bayi rayap yang akan menjadi pekerja, laron atau prajurit sesuai dengan kebutuhan koloni rayap. Sang ratu sendiri yang akan menentukan kebutuhan koloni.

4. Rayap Pekerja

Rayap pekerja dapat berjumlah hingga 85% dari sebuah koloni. Kelangsungan hidup sebuah koloni rayap tergantung dari rayap pekerja karena hanya merekalah yang dapat mengkonsumsi kayu dan membagikannya kepada seluruh anggota koloni rayap yang lain. Dengan kata lain merekalah yang menyuapi makanan kepada seluruh anggota koloni yang lain (ratu, raja, prajurit, nimfa dan telur).

Mereka adalah pencari sumber makanan yang gigih, dan dipercaya jangkauan mereka dapat mencapai sejauh 50 meter bahkan lebih dari sarang. Mereka juga berfungsi membersihkan wajah (grooming) seluruh anggota koloni. Dan yang perlu diingat adalah, hanya mereka yang merusak bangunan kita.

5. Rayap Prajurit

Rayap prajurit berjumlah sampai dengan 15% dari seluruh anggota koloni. Mereka

mempunyai bentuk rahang khusus untuk bertempur dan menjaga diri mereka. Rayap prajurit memiliki kepala yang sangat keras dan tidak akan hancur apabila ia mati. Rayap prajurit menjaga dan menemani rayap pekerja di sekitar sumber makanan untuk berjaga dari serangan predator (semut) maupun koloni rayap lain.

Rayap prajurit akan membunyikan alarm kepada koloni apabila timbul ancaman atau bahaya bagi koloni, entah itu adanya bau kimia, gangguan hewan / manusia maupun serangan dari predator dan koloni rayap lain dengan cara membenturkan kepalanya di terowongan tanah mereka dan alarm ini akan menyebabkan rayap pekerja dan prajurit untuk berpencar dan bersembunyi di tempat yang mereka anggap aman (misal retakan tembok) dan akan bekerja kembali setelah bau kimia / keadaan dianggap aman.

Berpencarnya anggota koloni akan menyebabkan terbentuknya satelit koloni (koloni yang terputus dari sarang), namun tetap memiliki potensi merusak bangunan.

6. Laron

Sama halnya seperti semut, koloi rayap juga memiliki laron namun berbeda bentuk. Laron diterbangkan oleh koloni rayap 2 kali dalam setahun dalam keadaan udara yang agak hangat dan angin yang tidak terlalu kencang. Hal dilakukan untuk meningkatkan harapan hidup laron terhadap gangguan alam.

Laron akan mencari pasangannya dibawah sinar lampu. Setelah mereka menemukan pasangannya, maka mereka akan memutuskan sayap mereka dan akan berjalan beriringan mencari celah di tanah atau di bangunan.

Javier Vazquez Makes Yankees Win Over Orioles

New York Yankee righthander baseball player Javier Vazquez was public enemy Number 1 in his own house. He was treated better while walking the streets of New York than he was at Yankee Stadium. Javier Vazquez said fans told him they supported him and his resume spoke for itself.

On Tuesday night, the embattled veteran was finally shown the love at Yankee Stadium as he had his fastball blazing (he was in the low 90s) and his offspeed pitches dancing in a gem of a performance that sent a sigh of relief throughout the Yankees organization.

In his first start at home since a May 1 implosion against the White Sox, Javier Vazquez (4-5) was brilliant, allowing four hits while striking out a season-high tying seven and walking just one over seven innings in a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He also pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning.

“I don't even remember the last time I started here It feels like a while. Obviously, I want to pitch good here. Everybody knows that. I'm working on that. I think it was important to throw a good game here, I feel better. I feel like my mechanics are there. I'm throwing much better pitches than I was early in the year. I have better command. My location was much better. It doesn't matter how hard I throw it. That (location) is the key for me.'' said Javier Vazquez.

Javier Vazquez rebounded from a shaky start last week in Minnesota by striking out seven, allowing four hits and one run, and pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh. In the bottom half, the Yankees scored two unearned runs to make him the pitcher of record, and Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera ensured his win by pitching two spotless innings.

“Obviously, I want to pitch good here,” Javier Vazquez said. “That’s something that everybody knows. I’m working on that.”

In his last outing, Javier Vazquez took a giant step backwards when he was rocked by the Twins, giving up eight hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings. He needed a strong outing on Tuesday night to solidify his place in the rotation, and he delivered.

New York Yankees all-star baseball player Javier Vazquez was rolling along until he gave up a a solo homer to Corey Patterson (he struck him out the first two times at bat) in the sixth inning to tie the score, 1-1. Then, he ran into trouble in the seventh. The Orioles loaded the bases with one out on two hits and an intentional walk.

But Javier Vazquez struck out Adam Jones swinging and got Julio Lugo to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning. The Yankees scored two unearned runs on a throwing error by third baseman Miguel Tejada with two outs on a ground ball by Alex Rodriquez to take the lead for good.

“I wanted to stay (in the game) and I'm glad Joe let me finish that inning.'' said Javier Vazquez. “That was huge. ... I think (the strikeout of Jones) was the key pitch there. He's a dangerous hitter and I threw a pretty good pitch (an 87-mph fastball).''

Yankees manager Joe Girardi insists he saw this type of performance coming. After a rough start to the season -- losing four of his first five decisions, Javier Vazquez held the Tigers to two runs over seven innings on May 12, earned a victory against the Red Sox in relief on May 17 and shut out the Mets over six innings on May 21 before his meltdown against the Twins.

“He was great (Tuesday night), Four hits, he attacked the zone all night, I thought he used his fastball very effectively. This is kind of what we thought we were going to get from him. Everybody is going to run into bumps in the road. But we've been really encouraged by the way he has been throwing the baseball. He has strikeout stuff. He has groundball stuff. There's a lot of things that Javier can do. He has three different off-speed pitches, he can sink it. He can four-seam it. I thought he used everything effectively, but he was really good with his fastball.'' said New York Yankee Manager Joe Girardi

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