Subterranean Termite

Reticulitermes flavipes, the Eastern Subterranean Termite, is a detritivorous insect belonging to the infraorder Isoptera, family Rhinotermitidae. Colonies comprise multiple castes: workers (sterile, blind, 3-5mm, off-white), soldiers (larger head, prominent mandibles, 5mm), and reproductives (primary alates: dark-bodied with two pairs of equal-sized wings, 9-11mm total length; secondary/neotenics). A colony can house 60,000 to over a million individuals, with a queen laying hundreds to thousands of eggs daily, living for 25+ years. Optimal conditions for development are 25-30°C and high humidity (above 90%), making them sensitive to desiccation.

R. flavipes workers exhibit continuous foraging activity, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, avoiding light and open air exposure. They communicate through pheromones, primarily trail pheromones (e.g., n-tetradecyl propionate) to guide nest-mates to food sources and alarm pheromones (e.g., geranylacetone) to signal danger. Their cellulose-digesting symbiotic gut flagellates enable them to process wood, initiating damage often unseen within wall voids or beneath floors. Swarming events, typically occurring in spring during warm, humid conditions after rainfall, are dispersal flights of alates to establish new colonies, indicating a mature infestation nearby.