University of Hawaii Termite Project

University of Hawaii Termite Project

Research

Termite Gallery

Termite People

The secret world of termites

Termite castes

Termite castes
Division of labor within a termite colony

Formosan subterranean termites have three distinct castes: workers, soldiers, and reproductives.

Workers

The majority of the termites in a colony are workers. They can live more than 4 years and are responsible for all the damage done by a termite colony. They are very fragile and are very susceptible to drying, so most of their activities are confined to the warm, humid environment within the tunnels and galleries. With the exceptions of reproduction and defense, the workers perform all of the tasks for the colony:

Foraging for food
Feeding the king, queen, soldiers, and young
Caring for the eggs
Building tunnels and carton nests
Repairing or sealing off damaged tunnels
Opening and closing flight slits for swarming
Burying or cannibalizing injured or abnormal colony members

Extensive galleries in a
6x6 wooden board

This is a glimpse inside of a tunnel being rebuilt after being damaged. Notice how a few soldiers stand guard as the workers complete their task.
(Click to enlarge)

Soldiers

The soldiers are responsible for defending the colony against intruders. Their large, pincer-like jaws are solely for fighting, so they are unable to chew food for themselves. They must be fed by the workers.

An alarm is triggered when a tunnel is breached and exposed to the outside world. The soldiers immediately congregate around the breach and protect the exposed area until the workers can repair the damage. As the soldiers bite intruders, they can emit a glue-like substance from a pore at the top of their head. This "glue" hinders the movement of intruders.

During swarming, soldiers fan out and protect the area around the flight slits.

Soldiers congregating around a breach

Click to enlarge

On their heads, soldiers have a pore called a fontanelle through which they secrete an adhesive that hinders the movement of intruders.

Click to enlarge

Here is a view of a soldier emitting the adhesive substance through the pore on its head.

Reproductives

Primary reproductives: King and Queen
Each termite colony has only one king and one queen. This is the royal pair that started the colony as a pair of mating alates. All the other members of the colony are children of this founding pair. Once she has reached her full size, the queen will spend the rest of her life within the royal chamber of the colony, producing up to 2,000 eggs a day.

Primary reproductives: Alates
Alates (from the Latin word alatus, meaning "wings") are the most commonly seen of the three termite castes. Their sole purpose in life is to spread and start new colonies. Their thick, tough skin enables them to survive in the outside environment during swarming. Thousands of alates are produced each year, and they all eventually leave the nest, since they won't reproduce within their colony of origin. The primary reproductives are the only termites in the colony with eyes.

Supplementary reproductives
Unlike primary reproductives, secondaries never leave home. They are wingless, blind, and will only reproduce if the king or queen dies or becomes separated from the colony. However, they are not nearly as efficient as the king and queen, as it takes many supplementary reproductives to equal the egg laying capacity of the original king and queen.

Left to right, here are the developmental stages of an alate. Note that at the earliest stage, the alate nymph is virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary worker.

Here is a rare glimpse of Formosan termite alates emerging from flight slits, escorted by large numbers of soldiers.
(Click to enlarge)

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