Would it surprise you to learn that termites play a vital role in the ecology of our planet? They’re best-known to us for their destructiveness when they take up residence in, well, a residence. No one wants that, of course, and worldwide they cause billions of dollars in damage annually, including a billion in the U.S. alone. They’re found nearly everywhere on earth, including the soil in our yards. Yet, that’s not a bad thing. You’ll learn why as you read on.
Termites are sometimes called “white ants” because they’re small and live in colonies like ants. But they’re unrelated. Termites, along with cockroaches, are in the order Blattodea and are believed to be evolved from a cockroach-like ancestor. Fossil evidence dates termites back to the Cretaceous Period, from 65 to 146 million years ago, when the last of the dinosaurs still lived.
Termites are in an infraorder called Isoptera (eye-SOP-ter-uh). Isoptera is from the Greek words iso and ptera for “equal wing,” a reference to the termite’s forewings and hind wings being roughly the same size. The word termite derives from the Latin and Late Latin word termes for “woodworm.”
So far, 3,106 species of termites have been discovered. They’re found nearly everywhere, except Antarctica, with most living in tropical and subtropical regions. In the U.S., termites are concentrated more in warm areas of the country but are represented in all states but Alaska. Forty-four species of termites inhabit the U.S.
Why we need termites
Termites live to chow down on wood, or rather cellulose, the main constituent of plants. Some prefer the cellulose in trees (the reason wood structures are appealing), while others like grasses or other plants. Termites have the ability to break down cellulose and that’s one of the reasons they’re beneficial. It has to do with a process called nitrogen fixation.
Nitrogen is crucial in the formation of the amino acids, proteins, and DNA needed by plants and animals, including humans, in order to survive. The curious thing is that, while nitrogen makes up 78 percent of the air we breathe, it’s unusable until it’s “fixed” through a complex process that converts it into usable organic compounds. And, so…most of this fixing is done by specialized bacteria and protozoa living in the gut of termites, where their tiny bites of wood and plants are changed into usable nitrogen!
Some of the fixed nitrogen is used by the termites for their own survival. But the rest is expelled in their feces (called pellets or frass), where they’re churned into the soil for use by plants or are eaten by animals. Humans benefit because our diet includes plants and, for most, animals that eat plants.
Termites are beneficial in other ways, too. They’re prey for wildlife and, in some countries, humans eat them, too. Also, the bodies of termites that die by other means provide nutrients to scavengers and to the soil for plant growth.
Termites range in size from 0.16 to 0.59 inch (4 to 15 mm), depending on the species. They have three main body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. Their head has two short threadlike or beadlike antennae and strong, chewing mouthparts for biting seeds, wood, and leaves.
Soldier and worker termites of most species don’t have eyes and are wingless. Wings, when present, are longer than the body and at rest lay flat above the abdomen. Reproductive termites have two pairs of wings attached to the last two thoracic segments. Termites lack ears, but they can sense vibrations. Their sense of smell is excellent and they communicate with each other by excreting pheromone-scented trails, and by touching and grooming each other. They also can sense other odors. They have no taste buds but are able to distinguish between types of wood. Termites have three pairs of legs, which are attached to the thorax.
Their abdomen contains the respiratory, circulatory, digestive and reproductive systems. The digestive system contains symbiotic bacteria and protozoans that have the ability to break down cellulose into components that can be digested.
Termites are called social insects. Like honeybees and social ants, they live in structured colonies and each member has a role to play. A colony may have many thousands, even millions, of related members.
Termites are differentiated physically and by role into one of several castes — queen, king, swarmers, soldiers, and workers. Some species don’t have workers; in their case, the work is performed by nymphs (immature termites).
Most termites are male and female “workers.” They’re whitish in color, maggot-like and wingless. They live hidden within the nest. In most species, they have no eyes, but that doesn’t prevent them from performing as the workhorses of the colony, the ones that eat wood and perform other chores. As they eat, tunnels are created, eventually riddling the wood so thoroughly that a log may look solid externally but collapse under slight pressure. Workers also must locate food, consume it, feed and groom all other castes and the termite young, repair nests, build shelter tubes and even help defend the colony.
“Soldiers” are the male and female defenders of the colony. They’re wingless, blind, sexually immature and have a large head that distinguishes them from workers. They usually have large, powerful jaws (mandibles). Soldiers provide the first line of defense against ants and other insects. Researchers think they detect danger through touch and chemical means. Soldiers defend their colony by rushing to fill broken walls and tunnels. They use their head and jaws to fight predators.
“Swarmers” are males and females with compound eyes, dark bodies and two pairs of conspicuously veined wings of equal size. They become the queens and kings of new colonies. They can be confused with winged ants, but ants are much larger and have a skinny “waistline” and antennae with “elbows.” Also, the forewings of ants are much larger than the hind wings. Swarmers shed their wings after mating.
The queen is the colony’s most important member — she lays the eggs. The king has an essential role, too, as the queen’s mate. Both queen and king are darker in coloration than others in the colony and look much alike, except he is slightly smaller than she. All their needs are provided by the other castes.
Termites undergo incomplete metamorphosis. This means they proceed from an egg to an immature stage (nymph) to an adult.
Nymphs look much like adults. Workers and soldiers are sterile. The queen exists for the sole purpose of laying eggs — that’s all she does day after day! Most of her abdomen is filled with eggs (see photo).The king’s role is to keep the queen supplied with sperm. In a large colony, there may be more than one queen and king, with each pair living in their own area.
Termites destined to become swarmers progress through several molts (shed their skin as they outgrow it) during their nymphal stage and ultimately become sexually mature adults with functional wings.
Swarmers leave the nest to start new colonies. On a warm day, they’ll leave their old colony and join thousands of swarmers of the same species from other colonies. As soon as a female accepts a mate, both insects shed their wings and together look for wood that’s soft, where they begin excavating a tunnel. They’re now the queen and king of what will become a new colony. In a chamber they fashion at the end of the tunnel, the queen lays a few eggs. She and the king care for them and their hatched young until there are enough workers to take over for them.
Studies have shown that some queens can reproduce both sexually and asexually. The asexually produced babies have no genes in common with the king. They become “secondary queens,” mate with the king and produce broods unrelated to the primary queen, which prevents inbreeding within the colony.
Workers can live up to four years, undergoing several molts, while the queen may live for a decade or more.
Termites feed on the cellulose in wood, in dead plant material in the soil and in leaf litter, and in animal dung.
In the U.S. there are three main types of termites — drywood, subterranean, and dampwood (There’s a fourth type, called mound-builders, that inhabits Australia, Africa, and South America.)
- Subterranean termites are found in every state except Alaska. Their populations are larger in warmer areas. They live in the soil, sometimes several feet down.
- Drywood termites are less common than subterranean termites. They don’t need soil or moisture to survive and can live about everywhere, even deserts if there’s dry and undecayed wood available. They’re most common in coastal, southern states and the Southwest.
- Dampwood termites don’t usually have contact with the soil. They’re most widespread in California and the Pacific Northwest. As their name suggests, they live in wood that’s water damaged or resting on the forest floor.
Where to find them
Mound-building termites that inhabit Africa and other warm areas of the world live in mounds they build up 25 (7.6 m) or more feet tall — no problem finding them! Here in the states, though, termites live in less palatial, less noticeable circumstances. Drywood termites live aboveground, so look inside dead branches or logs. Even a stack of flattened cardboard boxes can be attractive to termites since these items are made from wood. Sometimes you can spot a colony by piles of tiny, salt-and-pepper-looking fecal pellets dropped outside an entrance to their lodging.
Subterranean termites live in or near the soil, where there’s a moist environment. They tunnel up to the surface to feed on wood and move about through “shelter tubes” they construct of soil and bits of wood glued together with their saliva and other secretions. Look for these runways, smaller than the width of a pencil, on the outside of dead wood and wood structures. Sometimes they’re even stuck to a concrete foundation, serving as a covered highway, as it were, from the soil up to the wooden part of a structure.
Learn about another colony-forming insect: All about honeybees
There are four families of termites in North America.
Hodotermitidae (ho-do-ter-MIT-uh-dee) — Rotten-wood termites
They nest in dead wood. Unlike other families, they may live in wood that doesn’t have contact with the ground, so long as it has some moisture. Three species.
Kalotermitidae (cowl-oh-ter-MIT-uh-dee) — Dry-wood and damp-wood termites
Depending on the species, they nest aboveground in either damp or dry wood. They excavate extensively. Dry-wood species will attack structures. Seventeen species.
Rhinotermitidae (rye-no-ter-MIT-uh-dee) — Subterranean termites
They nest from one to several feet belowground and surface to feed on wood — mostly dead stumps and fallen trees. Nine species.
Termitidae – (ter-MIT-uh-dee) Higher termites
Inhabitants mostly of dry regions, they live in the ground. Called “higher termites” because they have bacteria living in their digestive system. This distinguishes them from “lower” termites, which have protozoa. They feed on wood, plant litter or dung. Fifteen species.