Critter Science
  • Zoology
    • Ecology
      • Animal Conservation
        • CITES: Protecting Wildlife
        • Endangered Animals
        • Ex Situ Explained
        • In Situ Explained
      • Ecosystems
        • The Biomes
        • Coastal Erosion
      • Evolution. The Facts.
        • Animal Devolution
        • Arachnids – What are They?
        • Evolution of Amphibians
        • Evolution of Birds
        • Fish and Sharks
        • Natural Selection
        • Primate Language: The Debate
        • What is a Marsupial?
      • Predator vs Prey
      • Producers and Consumers
    • Sustainability
      • Climate Change
      • Global Warming
      • Pollution
        • Air Pollution
        • Land Pollution
        • Light Pollution
        • Microplastics Pollution
        • Noise Pollution
        • Pollution Quiz
        • Water Pollution
      • Recycling
      • Renewable Energy
    • Animal Behavioral Patterns
      • Elephant Communication
      • Types of Animal Dormancy
    • What are Species?
      • Amphibians vs Reptiles
      • Animal Reproduction
      • Claws, Nails, and Talons
      • Frogs vs Toads
      • Fur and Hair
      • Gecko Feet
      • Invasive Species
      • IUCN Statuses
      • The Enigmatic Purr
      • Venom vs Poison
      • What is a Marsupial?
    • About the Critterman
  • Daily Critter Facts
    • Amphibian Facts
      • Frog Facts
      • Newt Facts
      • Salamander Facts
      • Toad Facts
    • Arthropod Facts
      • Arachnid Facts
      • Insect Facts
    • Bird Facts
      • Flightless Bird Facts
      • Predatory Bird Facts
      • Scavenger Bird Facts
    • Cryptozoology
    • Fish Facts
      • Cephalopod Facts
      • Crustacean Facts
      • Jellyfish Facts
      • Reefs
      • Shark and Ray Facts
      • Shellfish Facts
    • Flying Mammal Facts
    • Gastropod Facts
    • Land Mammal Facts
      • Canine Facts
      • Feline Facts
      • Lagomorph Facts
      • Marsupial Facts
      • Primate Facts
      • Rodent Facts
      • Ungulate Facts
    • Parasite Facts
    • Reptile Facts
      • Crocodilian Facts
      • Lizard Facts
      • Snake Facts
      • Turtle Facts
    • Sea Mammal Facts
      • Dolphin Facts
      • Porpoise Facts
      • Sea Lion Facts
      • Seal Facts
      • Whale Facts
    • Worm Facts
  • For Teachers
    • Animal Quizzes
      • Amphibians Quiz
      • Bird Quiz
      • Cat Quiz
      • Dolphin Quiz
      • Insect Quiz
      • Reptile Quiz
    • Butterfly Life Cycle
      • Butterfly Metamorphosis
      • World’s Largest Butterfly
      • World’s Largest Moth
    • Metamorphosis – A Frog’s Life Cycle
    • The Cellular Structure of an Animal
    • Insect vs Bug
    • Animal Word Search
    • Coloring Pages
  • Study Guides
    • African Animals
    • Antarctica Animals
    • Asian Animals
    • Australian Animals
    • Central American Animals
    • European Animals
    • North American Animals
    • South American Animals
  • Diseases & Parasites
    • Bsal
    • Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)
    • Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
    • The Deadly Chytrid Fungus
    • All About Parasites
    • The Rabies Virus
    • White-Nose Syndrome
  • Contact
    • General Contact
    • Guest Article Submission
      • Guest Articles
        • Guest Articles – 2024
    • What Critter is This?
    • Animal Welfare Organizations
    • Privacy Policy
Subscribe
  • Zoology
    • Ecology
      • Animal Conservation
        • CITES: Protecting Wildlife
        • Endangered Animals
        • Ex Situ Explained
        • In Situ Explained
      • Ecosystems
        • The Biomes
        • Coastal Erosion
      • Evolution. The Facts.
        • Animal Devolution
        • Arachnids – What are They?
        • Evolution of Amphibians
        • Evolution of Birds
        • Fish and Sharks
        • Natural Selection
        • Primate Language: The Debate
        • What is a Marsupial?
      • Predator vs Prey
      • Producers and Consumers
    • Sustainability
      • Climate Change
      • Global Warming
      • Pollution
        • Air Pollution
        • Land Pollution
        • Light Pollution
        • Microplastics Pollution
        • Noise Pollution
        • Pollution Quiz
        • Water Pollution
      • Recycling
      • Renewable Energy
    • Animal Behavioral Patterns
      • Elephant Communication
      • Types of Animal Dormancy
    • What are Species?
      • Amphibians vs Reptiles
      • Animal Reproduction
      • Claws, Nails, and Talons
      • Frogs vs Toads
      • Fur and Hair
      • Gecko Feet
      • Invasive Species
      • IUCN Statuses
      • The Enigmatic Purr
      • Venom vs Poison
      • What is a Marsupial?
    • About the Critterman
  • Daily Critter Facts
    • Amphibian Facts
      • Frog Facts
      • Newt Facts
      • Salamander Facts
      • Toad Facts
    • Arthropod Facts
      • Arachnid Facts
      • Insect Facts
    • Bird Facts
      • Flightless Bird Facts
      • Predatory Bird Facts
      • Scavenger Bird Facts
    • Cryptozoology
    • Fish Facts
      • Cephalopod Facts
      • Crustacean Facts
      • Jellyfish Facts
      • Reefs
      • Shark and Ray Facts
      • Shellfish Facts
    • Flying Mammal Facts
    • Gastropod Facts
    • Land Mammal Facts
      • Canine Facts
      • Feline Facts
      • Lagomorph Facts
      • Marsupial Facts
      • Primate Facts
      • Rodent Facts
      • Ungulate Facts
    • Parasite Facts
    • Reptile Facts
      • Crocodilian Facts
      • Lizard Facts
      • Snake Facts
      • Turtle Facts
    • Sea Mammal Facts
      • Dolphin Facts
      • Porpoise Facts
      • Sea Lion Facts
      • Seal Facts
      • Whale Facts
    • Worm Facts
  • For Teachers
    • Animal Quizzes
      • Amphibians Quiz
      • Bird Quiz
      • Cat Quiz
      • Dolphin Quiz
      • Insect Quiz
      • Reptile Quiz
    • Butterfly Life Cycle
      • Butterfly Metamorphosis
      • World’s Largest Butterfly
      • World’s Largest Moth
    • Metamorphosis – A Frog’s Life Cycle
    • The Cellular Structure of an Animal
    • Insect vs Bug
    • Animal Word Search
    • Coloring Pages
  • Study Guides
    • African Animals
    • Antarctica Animals
    • Asian Animals
    • Australian Animals
    • Central American Animals
    • European Animals
    • North American Animals
    • South American Animals
  • Diseases & Parasites
    • Bsal
    • Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)
    • Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
    • The Deadly Chytrid Fungus
    • All About Parasites
    • The Rabies Virus
    • White-Nose Syndrome
  • Contact
    • General Contact
    • Guest Article Submission
      • Guest Articles
        • Guest Articles – 2024
    • What Critter is This?
    • Animal Welfare Organizations
    • Privacy Policy
eastern subterranean termite

The Eastern Subterranean Termite

  • 30 June, 2025
  • Critterman
  • No Comments
  • 25 Views
  • 3 Likes
Arthropod Facts, Daily Critter Facts, Insect Facts

The eastern subterranean termite is the most commonly found and most economically significant termite in North America. They are found as far north as southern Ontario. Originating in southeastern United States they are considered to be invasive in southern Canada, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands), South America (Uruguay and Chile), and the Bahamas. These insects are not currently evaluated by the IUCN.

First the Stats…

Scientific name: Reticulitermes flavipes
Length: Up to .39 inch
Lifespan: Up to 2 years (workers) | Up to 30 years (queens)

Now on to the Facts!

1.) Like other termites, they feed on cellulose which is found in paper, books, buildings, wooden fixtures, and cotton.

2.) A mature colony can range in size from 20,000 workers up to as many as 5 million workers. The primary queen of the colony lays 5,000 – 10,000 eggs per year adding to this total.

3.) Just like ants and other social insects, they share resources and divide labor based on a caste system.

4.) Individuals in the colony are typically organized into 3 castes: worker, soldier, and reproductive.

5.) Workers are about .12 inch long and are blind, soft-bodied, and wingless. They are creamy white to grayish-white with a round head. They make up the majority of the termites that actually eat wood.

But wait, there’s more on the eastern subterranean termite!

6.) Workers are sterile and forage for food and water, build and repair shelter tubes, feed and groom other termites, care for eggs and larvae, and engage in the colony’s defense.

7.) Soldiers are also wingless and look like workers sans having a large, rectangular, yellowish-brown head with long black mandibles. The soldiers’ primary purpose is colony defense. Their mandibles are primarily used for crushing enemy ants which might invade the colony.

Did you know…?
These termites are opportunistic, and a newly hatched termite can develop into any of a number of castes. At first, they start as a worker termite and are most likely to remain a worker for their entire life. Molting can change the worker though into a pre-soldier and subsequently, a soldier. The soldier caste is a finel stage which can no longer molt.

8.) Soldiers, measuring up to .47 inch, also have a fontanelle (frontal gland pore) on the forehead where they secrete a blend of terpenoid compounds. These secretions are synthesized anew and are also used to defend the colony from predators like ants.

9.) Soldiers make up to 2% of the entire colony. They are not capable of feeding themselves and depend on the worker termites to provide them with regurgitated food.

10.) The reproductive caste are called nymphs and can be told apart from workers by the presence of wing buds. These individuals measure up to .39 inch.

But wait, there’s still more on the eastern subterranean termite!

11.) The precursors of winged adult termites are called alates which are sexually mature. Termite nymphs are non terminal and can revert back to the worker stage. These reverted nymphs are called pseudergates. Nymphs and workers also have the ability to develop into secondary and tertiary neotenic reproductives as well.

12.) Swarming is the quick, mass appearance of alates during the day from February – April. After this behavior male and female alates drop their wings, pair up, and form new colonies.

Did you know…?
These termites are responsible for 80% of the $2.2 billion spent each year in the United States alone on termite control.

13.) These insects were first described by the American paleontologist Joseph Leidy, in 1877.

14.) Introduction to the gut microbiota using things like antibiotics or boric acid, a common agent used in preventative treatment, have all been shown to cause irrecoverable damage to their digestion and lead to the rise of opportunistic pathogens and death.

15.) Ants, assassin bugs, spiders, birds, lizards, frogs, anteaters, aardvarks, wasps, and dragonflies all prey on these insects.

Now a Short Eastern Subterranean Termite Video!

Be sure to share & comment below! Also, check out the Critter Science YouTube channel. Videos added regularly!

Subscribe


Want to suggest a critter for me to write about? Let me know here.

Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia

Photo credit: Gary Alpert

Trending
The Brown Rat

Canadadamageeasterneastern subterranean termiteeats woodEuropeflyinsectinsectsinvasiveMexiconorth americanuisancepestsubterranean termiteswarmtermitetermitesUnited Stateswoodwood eating
Critterman

With over 50 years of critter experience to my credit and hundreds of zoology teaching hours to people around the world, I have amassed not only a continuing thirst for critter knowledge but a desire to teach others all I can about the majesty and wonder of our natural world. Critter Science is a culmination of such knowledge. I have hands on as well as book acquired intel on all kinds of critters. Whether they're on land, sea, or in the air. I will never say that I know everything about all animals. That's impossible, even for a savant. But, that being said, ask me any animal question and I'll answer it. If I don't know the answer, I'll get an answer for you!

The Red-Tailed Phasogale
The Smooth Hammerhead Shark
Related Posts
  • kagu
    The Rather Unique Kagu 7 August, 2025
  • crest-tailed mulgura
    The Crest-Tailed Mulgura 6 August, 2025
  • Commerson's dolphin
    The Commerson’s Dolphin 5 August, 2025
  • Daily Critter Facts
  • Guest Articles
  • BYET
  • Teachers
  • Study Guides
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025, Critter Science. All Rights Reserved.