SUBTERRANEAN TERMITES
Termites are ancient insects. Fossilized termite bodies indicate that this group of insects has been around for millions of years. Roman citizens knew of termites and referred to them as "Termes", meaning wormwood. Termites have caused problems in the
Termites are social insects and live in colonies that are made up of several caste members. These members are the workers, soldiers and reproductives, (queen and king). At some point in the life of the colony, large numbers of virgin males and females are produced and the colony will swarm. The process is similar to that which occurs in honeybees. The swarmers or alates (winged forms) fly about, settle to the ground and mate. The mated pair will then seek out some protected site and start a new colony. Thousands of these termites do not survive because of predation by birds, ants, lizards, ground beetles, spiders and other predators.
CASTE DESCRIPTIONS
Workers. The worker termite is a small blind or nearly blind insect that is white in color. As the name implies, this is the caste member that accomplishes the many tasks of the colony. They collect food, feed and groom the queen, build and maintain the nest area, feed the soldiers, build shelter tubes, feed immature termites, etc. This is also the caste member most often seen if a limb or log is kicked open, or if, during repairs, a wall is opened and the studs are infested with termites. Workers are the termites that cause the damage associated with termite feeding.
Soldier. The body of this termite is white and the head is tan to a yellow tarnish color. Due to their large mandibles, the soldier termite cannot collect food nor feed itself; however, they can defend the colony against insects such as ants. The head has more armor than the worker termite and the mandibles are capable of cutting an invading insect in half. If a feeding site or the colony area is disturbed, soldiers will bang their heads against a tunnel surface creating a noise, which serves to warn other termites of danger.
Alates or Swarmers. In the spring thousands of this termite caste can emerge from an infested structure. They are virgin males and females, and they have equal sized front and back wings. Emergence may occur at any point in the structure; however, they will tend to congregate at the nearest window. Homeowner may leave for work in the morning and return in the afternoon to find these insects on window ledges or on the floor beneath the window. They more than likely will have lost their wings and will be running around on the floor or will be dead due to the dry air in the building. A swarm, which occurs in the home, is a good indication that there is possible feeding within the walls. A termite colony that swarms some distance from the structure, and the termites are found on the patio, sidewalk or other area does not mean that the structure is infested with termites.
Termites are very persistent and unless a permanent remedy is introduced, it will not solve your problem, only create damage.
