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Termites, unbiased information about termites in New Jersey
pest in the United States. These termites cause billions of dollars in damage each year to homes, historical structures, and commercial buildings. In addition to buildings, termites also consume valuable books, doc- uments and photographs. Subterranean termites have existed for over 55 million years and are extremely good at what they do. A great deal of their success can be attributed to their cooperative behavior. Subterranean termites are social insects. This means that they live in family groups called colonies. Social insects are different from other insects (grasshoppers, cockroaches, or beetles) because each termite in the colony performs a specific job that benefits the colony as a whole. Most other insects work only for them- selves. For example, each individual grasshopper will feed and reproduce itself independently of its siblings. In the termite colony an entire group or caste of ter- mites is responsible for feeding their parents and sib- lings, while another caste is responsible for reproduction. Because of this division of labor, the colony of individuals functions as a single animal. The following is a description of how a subterranean termite colony becomes established and how the different castes interact and communicate as the colony grows. (March-May in Virginia) homeowners may begin to see winged termites emerge in large numbers inside their home or from the soil outside. These are the sub- terranean termite swarmers. The swarmers are new ter- mite kings and queens that must leave their parent colony in order to mate and establish new colonies of their own. land and search for a place to begin a family. Their wings break off shortly after landing and the new king and queen start their colony by excavating a small chamber in a crevice or plot of soft soil. When the chamber is large enough, they crawl inside, seal the opening and mate. From this point on, they will spend the rest of their lives underground. The queen lays her first batch of (6-12) eggs within a few days or weeks of mating. Initially, the king and queen tend the young termites. However, as the queenÕs egg laying capacity increases, the older offspring begin to tend their younger siblings. The colony will now continue to grow with increasing numbers of termites being pro- duced each year. The parental king and queen have the longest life span in the colony. They often survive for a decade or longer and can produce huge colonies with thousands of offspring. Virginia is the Eastern Subterranean termite, Reticultermes flavipes. Mature colonies (6-7 years old) of R. flavipes in Virginia have been estimated to con- tain more than 60,000 workers. These large subter- ranean termite colonies often become decentralized over time and occupy multiple nesting sites intercon- nected by a network of underground tunnels. Termites, unbiased information about termites in New Jersey 
certain times of the year, will produce large numbers of winged swarmers or ÒalatesÓ that will eventually become king and queen termites. These royal termites are dark-colored and are the only caste with functional eyes. The swarmers lose their wings after a short flight where they select a mate. The new king termite remains virtually unchanged after losing his wings. However, as the new queen begins to produce eggs her abdomen grows larger with the development of her ovaries. As she stretches, the segments of her body pull farther apart showing the white membranes between the seg- ments of her abdomen. This gives the queen a striped appearance. The eastern subterranean termite queen will stretch until she is about 14.5 mm in length. At this point she is an egg laying machine, producing over 500 offspring a year. reproductive swarmer termites, the king and queen. However, if the king or queen should die, other indi- viduals within the colony will start to develop func- tional reproductive organs to take their place. These individuals are called secondary reproductives. Secondary reproductives are light in color but they are larger than workers and never develop wings. In mature colonies a secondary reproductive caste can develop even though there is still a producing queen present. When this happens the secondary reproduc- tive caste members will produce the majority of the eggs, causing the colony to grow at a much faster rate. Although no individual secondary reproductive can produce as many eggs as the queen, several hundred of them may exist in a single colony thus producing thou- sands of eggs. Secondary reproductives may also develop in satellite nests where a group of workers splitting or budding of the nest expands the original colonyÕs foraging territory. infested wood. As in other termites species, the work- ers are responsible for all of the labor in the colony. They care for the young, repair the nest, build foraging tunnels, locate food, feed and groom the other castes and each other. The youngest termite workers perform the tasks inside the colony like feeding, grooming and caring for the young, while the older more expendable workers take on the hazardous jobs of foraging and nest building. The termite workers are both male and female but they are functionally sterile. They are milky white in color and have no wings or eyes. The body of the termite worker is soft, but its mouthparts are very hard and adapted for chewing wood. colony. They protect the colony against marauding ants and foreign termites. When foraging tubes or gal- 
the break to stand guard against invaders. Soldiers are similar to the termite workers in that they are blind, soft-bodied and wingless. However, the soldiers have an enlarged, hard, yellowish-brown head which has been modified for defense. The head has a pair of very large mandibles or jaws that are made to puncture, slice and kill enemies (primarily ants). However, the large mandibles prevent the soldiers from feeding them- selves, so they must rely on the workers for food. locate sources of food. It is thought that the termites forage by digging a network of tunnels and come in contact with food sources in the process. The foraging range of a single termite colony is difficult to predict. Some larger colonies may forage over areas the size of a football field. However, depending on the season or weather, they may not forage over their entire range at all times. Also, several smaller colonies may cover a greater foraging distance than one large colony. pheromones that influence their behavior. These pheromones are basically odors that send messages to other termites in the colony. While tunneling under- ground, the foraging termites lay down a trail of pheromone which they secrete from glands on their abdomen. When a food source is located, the odor trail is intensified to recruit other termites to the feeding site. However, the intensity of the recruitment effort (odor trail) is influenced by soil temperature, moisture and compaction as well as the size and quality of the food source. sources of cellulosic food like wood in homes and other structures. In order to protect themselves from predation by ants and maintain their connection to the soil while searching for food above ground, termites build long tubes out of mud and fecal material. These mud tubes are called exploratory tubes. Termite exploratory tubes are very easy to see and are one of the best ways to identify a potential termite infestation. Once a source of wood has been located, the termites establish more permanent utility or working tubes. The utility tubes are highways running from the under- ground termite galleries directly to the food source. Utility tubes can cover long distances over the founda- tion of a building or along exterior walls to reach the wood inside. Sometimes subterranean termites build another tube that runs from the structural wood back down to the ground. These tubes are called drop or suspended tubes. Drop tubes are often lighter in color than the utility tubes because they contain more of the wood fiber taken from the structure. Subterranean ter- mites construct a fourth type of mud tube in addition to those that facilitate foraging. These are called swarm- ing tubes. Swarming tubes are built seasonally extend- ing only 4-8 inches above ground. These tubes provide the exit port for winged swarmers leaving the colony. out; this is why they must live in the soil. Soil has the capacity to hold water for a long period of time and keep the colony moist. When termites forage above ground, they must maintain their connection to the soil so that the workers and soldiers can return periodically to replenish their body moisture. The mud tubes pro- vide the termites with this soil connection. If a tube becomes damaged, the worker termites will labor des- perately to repair it. If the tube is beyond repair, the termites located above ground will often die of dehy- dration. However, on some occasions subterranean ter- mite colonies do become established above ground. These above ground infestations are almost exclusive- 
Chronic problems include flat roofs where dead leaves and moisture have been allowed to accumulate, leaking pipes or areas with no ventilation. In such cases the colony can survive above ground indefinitely. damage many materials, they can only obtain nutrition from cellulose. However, subterranean termites cannot digest cellulose on their own. In order to digest wood, subterranean termites have large numbers of microor- ganisms in their gut that convert the wood fiber into usable nutrients. If there were no microorganisms in the gut, the termite could eat constantly but still die of starvation. In the colony most food is shared mouth to mouth (a process called trophallaxis). Foraging work- er termites feed directly on wood or other cellulose material then store the food in their gut. They then return to the nest and feed the immature termites, sol- diers, and reproductives. because like all juvenile insects they must periodically shed their skin (exoskeleton) in order to grow (molt- ing). When they do this they also shed the lining of their hindgut where the wood-digesting microorgan- isms live. After molting the termites no longer have their microorganisms and are unable to digest food. In order to replenish their microorganism supply, the young termites feed on fluids (which contain the microorganisms) excreted from the hindgut of older mateÕs anus is called proctodeal feeding. Although it may sound disgusting, proctodeal feeding is essential for the survival of the termite colony. lishing new colonies. Subterranean swarmers emerge from the colonies at certain times of the year when con- ditions are suitable. Peak swarming season for the sub- terranean termites in Virginia is from March through June. The eastern subterranean termite, R. flavipes, usually swarms in the spring (March-May) during the daylight hours on warm days following a rain. Subterranean termite swarmers are attracted to light so if they emerge indoors they will be seen flying to win- dowsills and open doors. Usually, termite swarming either indoors or outside is the first indication to home- owners that they have a subterranean termite infesta- tion. Control, eighth edition. Mallis Handbook and Technical Training Company. 1997. Termite Control, second edition. University of cal- ifornia press, Berkeley, CA. 1946. sors do not guarantee nor warrant the standards of the product, nor do they imply approval of the product to the exclusion of others which may also be suitable. "Home Inspection and Home Repair" Books Available New: Titles Beginning With the letter V
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File last updated March 09, 2010 * Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved by: Accurate Inspections, Inc. A New Jersey home inspection firm 56 Woodland Drive, West Paterson NJ 07424 973-812-5100 providing New Jersey Certified Home Inspections in NJ, by New Jersey Licensed home inspectors. Inspector of record Michael Del Greco, New Jersey Home Inspector License GI 0121.
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