Invertebrates
Eastern Subterranean Termite
Reticulitermes flavipes · also called subterranean termite
A thin, snaking tube of mud runs up the side of a house foundation, easy to miss unless someone knows exactly what it means, a fragile-looking structure built one mouthful at a time by an eastern subterranean termite colony that cannot survive a moment away from the soil it just left.
Overview
The eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, is a wood-feeding insect native to forest and grassland soil across the eastern United States and southern Ontario. Its complete dependence on soil moisture, distinctive mud shelter tubes, and status as the most economically destructive termite species in North America make it one of the most consequential insects most homeowners will ever encounter.
A colony tethered to the ground
Every mud tube, every foraging trip, and every structural repair bill this species causes traces back to one basic constraint, an inability to survive for long without direct contact with damp soil, which shapes almost everything about how the colony builds and moves.
Status
Least Concern and extremely abundant across the eastern United States and southern Ontario, widely regarded as a major structural and agricultural pest rather than a species of any conservation concern.
Eastern Subterranean Termite: common questions
Why does the eastern subterranean termite need soil?
This species must maintain regular contact with moist soil to survive, since its colony depends on the ground as its primary source of the moisture needed to keep its members from drying out, which is why the species builds mud tubes to travel above ground rather than exposing itself directly to dry air and open surfaces.
What are the mud tubes built by eastern subterranean termites?
These are narrow tunnels made from a mixture of soil, saliva, and faecal matter that this species constructs to travel safely above ground or across surfaces such as concrete foundations without drying out or being exposed to predators, and finding one attached to a building's foundation is one of the clearest signs of an active infestation.
How big can an eastern subterranean termite colony get?
A single mature colony can grow to contain hundreds of thousands of individual termites, organised into distinct worker, soldier, and reproductive castes, all ultimately descended from one original founding king and queen pair that established the colony, sometimes years or even decades earlier.
Why do winged termites suddenly appear in spring?
Each spring, a mature eastern subterranean termite colony releases large numbers of winged reproductive termites called alates in a synchronised swarm, an event aimed at mating and dispersing to found entirely new colonies elsewhere, and a sudden indoor swarm is often the first visible sign that an established colony is nearby.