Formosan subterranean termite
The Formosan subterranean termite is a small pale insect that lives in huge families under the ground. Together they can chew through wood very fast. That is why people call it the super-termite.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
One big colony can eat about 400 grams of wood in a single day, about as heavy as a loaf of bread.
When lots of them fly at once, the swarm can even show up on the weather radar in New Orleans.
Its eggs need warmth. They do not hatch when it is colder than about 20 degrees.
It probably came to the United States on ships arriving at the port of New Orleans.
Most asked questions about Formosan subterranean termite
?Why is it called the super-termite?
Its colonies are huge and eat wood very fast, so they can badly damage a house in just a few months.
?Do Formosan termites bite people?
No. They are not dangerous to people, only to wood.
?Where does the name Formosan come from?
Formosa is the old name of the island of Taiwan, where people first noticed it.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Coptotermes formosanus
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Rhinotermitidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Rhinotermitidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Africa, North America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Formosan termite, Super-termite
Where the facts come from
- Formosan subterranean termite (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Photo by Scott Bauer.. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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