Western subterranean termite
The western subterranean termite is a small insect that lives in a big family under the ground. Each family has a queen, workers and soldiers, and they all help each other. They like damp places and eat wood.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Only the grown-ups that can start new families have wings. All the others have none.
On warm days in spring and autumn, often after rain, the winged ones fly out in swarms to find a partner.
It likes damp places to live.
A baby lacewing can sneak into termite tunnels, wave its tail and give off a chemical that makes a termite unable to move. Then it eats it.
Most asked questions about Western subterranean termite
?What does the western subterranean termite eat?
Wood, especially old wood that fungus has already made soft.
?Is the western subterranean termite dangerous?
No. It does not hurt people. It lives hidden under the ground.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Reticulitermes hesperus
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Heterotermitidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Heterotermitidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Reticulitermes hesperus (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 Ken-ichi Ueda. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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