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Yes Rusty! Just checked and you are correct, but only as far as
White ants are concerned. Black ants are not termites.

So, perhaps the setter could have qualified his ants as being 'white' ?

Again, out of interest with regards ants eating termites

hope it works this time

https://www.orkin.com › Termites › Termite Facts

if not just type "Do ants eat termites' in your search box
There are several artcles

Hello, Elle!
My view is this, another name for termites are "white ants".
It does not matter if they are true ants or not.
They are in our language as ants, rightly or wrongly, and in reputable dictionaries as ants and the setter is perfectly entitled to use that particular clue.
It may give the solver a bit more work to do, to discover that an alternative name for a termite is a white ant.
(I did not know until I went a-hunting)
I've checked Merriam Webster, an American dictionary of repute, and they agree with Chambers and Collins.
I think it is a fine clue.

Hi, Rusty!
I'm sorry for the delay in answering...I was just watching the end of "The Voice".
A great show tonight!
Thank you for the link showing Laura winning the 3000m!
What a race.......she was terrific!
And how many competitors did she lap? Gracious me!
Well done , Laura!
Yes, Rusty, I know what it says in Online Collins, but from various other sources - see both in Wikipedia, for instance - it would appear that ants and termites are not even from the same 'order' ?
I really do not know what to think...or which way to jump...
The jury is out on this one!
I am not going to push my point because I honestly do not know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite
Termites are eusocial insects that are classified at the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or as epifamily Termitoidae within the cockroach order Blattodea.



Hello, Pigale!
Thank you for your research..... take a look at the above two links and see what you think?
It is difficult to reconcile the dictionary definition with the apparent scientific "orders"?
Maybe an expert in the field will read this....and know the answer for sure.

Elle, I had seen those two articles and no, ants and termites
are not of the same order, on the face of it.

I can only say again what I mentioned to Rusty - it is all a question
of colour. Apparently, (I checked this but forgot the link) WHITE
ants ARE THE SAME as termite - just a different name that's all.
Nothing to do with our common little black ants that we all know
so well.

Now, whether the setter should have qualified his ant as being
white or not is Not for me to decide !!!

What to you make of this?
I think Rusty has made his view very clear so I won't bother him
with this anymore.

Pigale, I just don't know!
I am not sufficiently well informed to come done heavily (or even lightly!) on either side.
I am going to let it rest......until I am definitely convinced one way or the other.

Yes, enough said about ants, whatever their colour, for tonight, I agree!

Hello, Elle,
I have recorded "The Voice"!
Wonder if I'll find time to watch it!
Can I offer you a little story to try and explain my thinking regarding ants/termites.
For thousands of years on Earth we have had a little long tailed rodent called a mouse.
Mice are everywhere, we all know them.
Then, about forty or so years ago, some clever person invented a little gadget for remotely moving a cursor around on a computer screen.
And because, to them, the little gadget resembled a mouse, that was what it became known as, the world over.
Now we all know the computer mouse is not a true mouse, a little rodent, like Mr Jingles, but that gadget is in our vocabulary and in all the dictionaries as a "mouse".
I think the termite/ant thing may be similar.
A termite may not be a true ant, and I certainly take the points that Pigale and you have excellently made, but it has entered our language as one.
In my humble opinion.
Phew!

An excellent conclusion to our discussion Rusty!

Hi, Rusty!
I enjoyed tonight's "The Voice"...
I cannot guarantee that you will do so, of course, but can I make an appeal for you not to fast forward but listen to the talk between the coaches, too?
This is all part of the entertainment, and I like the respect that the judges show for each other.
I had to smile at your analogy......I have a roller ball mouse...which I shall now think of as Mr Jingles........!
I am away to my bed...early walk tomorrow...family coming at lunch time .. I think...!
G'night! Sleep tight!