Termite Colony Hierarchy and How to Identify Them

Workers look like small grains of rice in appearance and size. They have small white bodies and they do not have eyes. Workers do not have wings like their reproductive counterparts. They are usually the first termite you will encounter if your home is infested.

They do most of the “work” a termite colony needs for survival. This includes repairing termite tunnels, building new tunnels, foraging for food, and caring for the young.

Worker termites cannot reproduce and they make up the largest share of the colony. They tend to stay underground since they need moisture to survive. If they expose themselves to the open air they will eventually die from lack of moisture. Workers are responsible for the damage to the wood members of your home.

Soldiers are similar to worker termites; however, they have some distinct differences. Like workers they have non-pigmented white bodies and do not have eyes. The main difference is soldiers have a larger, darker head with mandibles. These mandibles allow soldiers to live up to their name by defending the colony.

Soldiers are responsible for defending the colony from threats such as ants. They protect the worker termites if a termite tube has been broken or breached (as seen in the picture above). Similar to worker termites they cannot expose themselves to the outside for very long or they will dry out and die.

The winged reproductive (also known as swarmers or alates) are similar in appearance to flying ants, which they are often mistaken for. They have dark coloured bodies and a thick exoskeleton to prevent them from drying out. Also, they have eyes unlike worker and soldier termites. They have two pairs of straight wings and all wings are similar in length. Lastly, they have straight, bead-like antennae.

Winged reproductive are the ones who venture outside the colony to establish a new colony. Once a male and female (alate) have paired up and found a new location, they will establish a new colony. They will lose their wings, mate and turn into a king and a queen.

Aetna does not have any images of a king or queen termite due to their reclusive nature. The king and queen will stay protected in the colony underground. You will likely never see them with your own eyes after they have turned from alates into a king/queen.

They are responsible for the colony organization and reproduction. They were originally termite alates who left their original colony and started a new one. Once settled in, the king and queen will reproduce and slowly build up a new colony. A termite colony will take up to five years to fully mature, once mature its population will range from several tens of thousands to several hundred thousand termites. Some termite colonies can grow to over 1 million termites.