Size and Appearance:
Range from 1/4 to 3/8 inches long.

Present in three forms or “castes:” reproductives, workers and soldiers.

1. Reproductives – (also called swarmers or alates):

• Primary
  • coal black to pale yellow-brown
  • have two sets of wings
  • wings are pale to smoky gray to brown and have few distinct veins.
• Secondary or Tertiary Reproductives:
  • generally white to cream-colored
  • may have short wing buds or be wingless

2. Workers:

• make up the largest number of individuals within a colony
• are wingless
• white to creamy white
• excavates and makes tunnels by chewing and eating wood which causes structural damage

3. Soldiers:

• soldiers resemble workers in color and general appearance
• have large, well-developed brownish heads with strong mandibles or jaws

Commonly Found:
Live in subterranean colonies (up to 5 to 10 feet below ground) in order to survive and maintain contact with the soil (their primary moisture source). May form colonies in other above-ground moisture sources, such as structures with defective plumbing, basement or crawlspace drainage, or guttering.

In order to protect themselves when above ground, from extreme temperatures and enemies such as ants and other insects, termites protect themselves by making shelter tubes or mud tubes.

Diet:
Derive their nutrition from wood and other material containing cellulose including; paper, cotton, burlap or other plant products.

Important Facts:
Termites are the most destructive insect pests of wood in the United States. They cause more than $2 billion in damage each year, more property damage than that caused by fire and windstorm combined

Are commonly confused with swarming ants.