Termites are well known for eating wood and being quite destructive. However, they themselves are incapable of digesting the
cellulose in the wood that they eat. The answer?
Symbiosis! Just as we have microbiotic
flora in our
intestines that allow for certain digestive processes to occur, termites have
protozoa or
bacteria that break down the cellulose into smaller mono- or polysaccharides which are more easily digestible. It is this shared living that allows the termite to a) derive his
diet from the wooden and other structures supporting our
homes, and b) be the root cause of a huge industry in their location and "
treatment"**.
** -- yeah, and the killing of 6 million Jews was "evacuation".