How Large Do Termites Get?
Termites are small insects that enter your home through holes in the wall. They can cause significant damage to your wooden furniture and ceilings. They also chew through wood grain. They leave behind mud tubes and feces.
Termite colonies have three main social castes, or sexes. The queen is the largest and most important member of the colony. She excavates a nest site. She then lays eggs and consumes plant materials. These are then hatched into worker termites.
The next social rank is the soldier. These have a dark, oval-shaped head, a larger body, and longer mandibles. They are approximately the same size as the worker termites. The soldier termites live between one and two years. They are also the defenders of the colony.
After the swarming season, termite reproductives emerge from the nest to start new colonies. The winged reproductives are also called alates. They are similar to the workers in color and wing pattern.
These are the most mobile members of the colony. They are about three eighths of an inch in length. They can live for over ten years under ideal conditions. They are very aggressive and tend to infest other wood.
The king and queen of a termite colony are the second most important members. They release chemicals to control the colony’s activities. They are brownish in color and may grow up to 5/8 of an inch in length. They can also survive for up to 25-30 years.