Classes Within Subterranean Termites

Worker: No wings, about ¼ inch or less in length and cream colored. Search out and collect food for the termite colony. Are also responsible for building and maintaining termite mud tubes and nests. They feed on cellulose, which is an essential component found in wood and grass. In nature, they’re helpful in the breakdown of dead and decaying materials. However, when worker termites seek to eat the wood in your home, they create devastating problems.

Soldier: No wings, large mandibles (jaws), termite colony defenders, are creamy-white in color, but their head is often brownish in color. They protect the colony against marauding ants and foreign termites. When foraging tubes or galleries are broken into, the soldiers congregate around the break to stand guard against invaders. 

Swarmer: Dark-brown to black in color, about ¼ to ½ inch long with two pairs of wings that are very close to being equal in length. Before termites can swarm, the colony has to be matured which takes 2 to 4 years. After swarming occurs, the surviving males and females pair off and begin the nesting and mating process as king and queen of the nest.