Eastern Subterranean Termites

This is the most common and widely distributed termite in North America.

Swarmers are about 3/8" long including wings.  They are dark brown to almost black.  These are often confused with carpenter ant swarmers.  For identification remove wings and if the body is oval in shape with no apparent waist it is termite swarmers.

Soldiers have a rectangular shaped head.  They are light in color. 

A typical mature colony may consist of 60,000 to over a million workers.  Sixty thousand workers may eat 5 grams of wood each day.  At that rate, such a colony could completely consume 2 1/3 linear feet of pine 2x4" board in 1 year.  However there may be several colonies associated with a single building.

Eastern subterranean termites have 3 castes: worker, soldier, and reproductive.  Colony founding via swarmers proceeds with the swarmers associating in pairs, breaking off their wings, and burrowing into the soil.  Here they mate and only a few eggs are produced the first year.  When the queen is mature she will produce about 5,000-10,000 eggs a year.  The queen may live for years and workers may live 1-2 years.

Swarming typically occurs in the spring but it may possibly be followed by one or more smaller swarms until winter.  Swarming occurs during the day time, typically during the morning of the day following a warm rain.

Eastern subterranean termites colonies are usually located in the ground.  Mud tubes are built to cross areas of adverse conditions between the colony and food sources.  They can enter structures through cracks less than 1/16" wide.  However, if constant source of moisture is available colonies can exist above ground and without ground contact. 

(Insect Information excerpted from the NPCA Field Guide to Structural Pests)