What Do Termite Eggs Look Like?

Significance

• Termites can lay thousands of eggs within just a few days. Within a termite colony, the queen is the only one to lay. Because she is so prolific, her abdomen, which contains the ovaries, is huge and distended, and she must be carried around if it becomes necessary for her to move. In fact, her body will increase a hundredfold when pregnant. Every time the queen molts, she gains another pair of ovaries and with it the capacity to produce even more eggs.

Identification

• Termite eggs are creamy white in color and nearly transparent. They are soft and lack a shell. They are small, about half the size of a grain of rice. The larvae that hatch from the eggs are about the same size as the eggs when they hatch. Most of their growth occurs after they have hatched.

Geography

• Termite eggs are found in termite nests, the conditions of which are always dark and moist. If you have seen small egglike flecks in your home, they are likely not termite eggs. They may be termite droppings, but eggs are usually concealed within the nest. In fact, if eggs within a nest are disturbed, they will usually die because they are very sensitive to light and lack of moisture.

Types

• There are several types of termites within a colony. The queen's sole responsibility is to lay eggs. Termite colonies also have kings, which are males that mate with the queen. There may be several kings within a colony. Worker termites are the ones that eat wood and bring it back to the nest. They are also responsible for taking care of the eggs in the nest as well as maintaining the nest. Soldiers are termites that protect the nest, usually from ant predators. Soldiers have developed enlarged heads with pincers on the end to help with their defenses.

Considerations

• Termites build nests where they live and where the queen lays eggs. Although termites will eat the wood in your home, they do not live there. In the wild, termites build nests within trees that have fallen over and died. Large mounds built by African and Australian species often reveal termite nests that have grown upward because of their large size.

Features

• Termites can digest the cellulose within wood because of the presence of a protozoan within their hindgut. Without this organism, no digestion could occur.