They are social insects that have a very destructive habit. They live in wooden structures, furniture, in the ground or in special nests called Termitaria.
Castes in a termite colony
There are basically 4 castes in a termite colony: the king, the queen, the workers and soldiers.
- The king;
The king is smaller than the queen but larger than the workers
Function;
It‘s only function is to mate with the queen and supply the sperm that she needs for the fertilization of eggs. He is adapted to this function by the presence of testes for the production of sperm.
- The queen;
The queen is huge. She is about 8 to 10 cm long. The main part of the body is an enlarges abdomen which contains millions of eggs. She is fed and cared for by the workers.
Function;
Her only function is to lay many eggs (about 3000 to 4000 eggs per day). She is adapted for this function by the presence of ovaries for the production of eggs.
- The workers;
The workers are the smallest in a termite colony. They are sterile (cannot reproduce), wingless, blind and colourless. Hence, they are sometimes called white ants.
Functions;
- They look for food, chew up the food pulp and feed the young nymphs, king and queen
- They remove eggs from the royal chamber as the queen lays them
- They repair and enlarge the nest as the colony increase in number
- They construct tunnels in the nest which they use to look for food
- They clean the royal chamber and the entire nest
- They are adapted to these functions by the presence of strong mandibles
- The soldiers;
They are sterile and wingless in some colonies. There are 2 types of soldiers.
- Mandibulated soldiers adapted for protection
- Nasute soldiers also adapted for protection
Functions;
The mandipulated soldiers possess strong jaws and mandibles, which look like pincers used for biting and for killing intruders such as ants, centipedes, etc… They also use their large heads to block the entrance into the nest
The nasute soldiers have enlarged heads with pointed snouts, which they use to squirt a poisonous substance on their enemies
NB: There is another caste known as the winged reproductive. They appear only during the end of the first rains. These winged reproductive are potential kings and queens and may play the role of reproduction in the future.
