All About Termites:  The Queen and her King

 

One of the most detested insects can ruin an entire home. Which insect am I referring to? The termite of course.  Termites are capable of producing their own cellulose enzymes which enables them to digest wood. Termites are classified as eusocial insects. Only three other insects belong to this nomenclature-ants, bees, and wasps. What does it mean to be a eusocial insect? If the insect is an ant, wasp, or a bee; then he falls into the insect order classified as Hymenoptera. However; if the insect happens to be a termite then he is classified as an Isopteran. All of these insects have three main characteristics in common.

1. The mother, along with others (who may or not be related) are responsible for taking care of the youngsters.
2. From the very beginning, division of labor is influenced by coupling of maternal behavior.
3. Many generations are involved with daily responsibilities. The older generation is available to help with the daily chores of their grandchildren.

 What makes termites different from the other eusocial insects? While ants have morphologically distinct workers and queens, termites have both male and female workers and may have a king and a queen. Some bees may not even be social at all, while all termites are considered social.

All termites live in groups referred to as “colonies”. At maturity these colonies can range from a few hundred to millions of termites. A colony consists of nymphs (not fully mature youngsters), soldiers, workers, and reproductive termites of both genders. For many females, they are assigned the important role as the egg-laying queens.

The “queen “has her work cut out for her. How does she become a queen? Once a female termite has flown, mated, and produced eggs-she has earned her royal title as a “queen”. Usually one male takes on the mating role of the entire colony. One queen doe not have time for a jealous outrage as there are many who share in the birthing role. Once the queen reaches maturity she lays eggs. In certain species like the Physogastric species, the queen adds an extra pair of ovaries every tine she molts. This results in a great increase in the size of her abdomen, allowing for the increased production of up to two thousand eggs per day. The expansion of her abdomen increases her body size several times before mating. Her abdomen can increase up to 100 times the original size! Let’s just say she isn’t able to move around like she did at one time. No need to worry-she has plenty of help from the workers. If she needs transported from one chamber to another it may take several workers to get the job done. The workers do not go unrewarded! They get a free drink by the queen herself via her posterior. Here’s another interesting fact regarding the queen. Many believe that she is the main source of pheromones that help in colony integration. If true, these pheromones are believed to be ingested through shared food feeding referred to as “trophallaxis”.

There are very few species that mate for life. Wolves, penguins, and angel fish mate for life; among a few other birds, and other distinct mammals. Did you know that termites mate for life as well? The king will increase slightly in size after the mating ritual and then settle in with his queen-for life! There are no roaming eyes for this Romeo. As for the male ant-his story is a rather sad one. Shortly after mating, he dies.  The male termite seems to be a bit more fortunate.

The queen and king are the only termites with wings. Each season a colony produces many queens and kings. They leave the colony and swarm around trying to find their soul mate. Once they find their one true love, they mate, lose their wings and begin the development of another colony. After flight they quickly shed their temporary wings with a simple shake and off they go into the sunset with their soul mate to start their journey in colony building. While this may not seem like an exciting life for us, who knows-perhaps it’s a joy ride for these wood eating insects. And for the male-unlike his cousin the ant; at least his love affair with the queen is rewarded with the privilege of living past the honeymoon!