< Anchor>

Yesterday (17th), dry tree termites were found in a family home in Gangnam, Seoul. In foreign countries, it is such a harmful insect that it can even collapse wooden buildings. Today, the authorities' findings have been released, raising the possibility that they have already been living there for a long time.

Jang Se-man is a journalist specializing in the environment.

Reporter <>

Yesterday, it was reported that dozens of winged insects had appeared in a family home in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul.

The National Institute of Ecology under the Ministry of Environment examined it under a microscope East Sea the site and confirmed that it was a genus of dry tree termites and Crypto Miss.

The specific species can only be identified after the results of the genome test, and this is the second time in Korea that the dry tree termite family has been discovered in 2021.

The complainant suspected that the bug appeared after sleeping with the window open, but the results of the on-site investigation were different.

He said it was difficult to get in from the outside during the night due to the dense screen on the windows, and instead traces of habitat were found in the timber cracks in the window frames leading out of the room to the veranda.

[Jeong Hwan-jin, Director of the Biodiversity Division, Ministry of Environment: When we went to the site to investigate, we did not find any traces of influx from the outside, and it is assumed that (termites) lived and moved in the cracks of the gates.]

In particular, the termites found this time had wings that occur during the breeding season.

Since a stable colony has been established for more than 5 years before it can reproduce, it is possible that it has already been inhabited for a long time, not a recent influx.

Termites previously found in Korea live in the ground and gnaw wet wood, causing limited damage, while dry wood termites are one of the most troublesome pests because they also damage dry wood such as construction wood and furniture.

[Park Hyun-cheol, professor, Department of Bioenvironmental Chemistry, Pusan National University: (Dry tree termites) are one of the most problematic species in the world because they damage parched furniture, beds, desks, and all kinds of trees.]

It is widely distributed in North America, Southeast Asia, Australia, and other areas that have a lot of interaction with us, but it does not harm the human body.

The Ministry of Environment, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters next Monday, will conduct further investigations to determine the specific route and circumstances of the introduction of dry tree termites, a pest to be managed.

(Video editing: Lee So-young)