Pest Organisms / Eastern Subterranean Termite
Biology
for Eastern Subterranean Termite
Colonies grow enormous — UF/IFAS puts a single *R. flavipes* colony at 100,000 to 1,000,000 termites, while UGA describes colonies as thousands into the millions. Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN369 Source: https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/B1209/
A colony has three main castes: reproductives (king, queen, alates, nymphs, and supplementary reproductives), soldiers, and workers — and soldiers are usually only 1–2% of a *Reticulitermes* colony. Reproduction does not rest on one queen; a colony's many supplementary neotenic reproductives can together far outproduce a single primary reproductive. Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN369 Source: https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/B1209/
Maturing takes years — UF/IFAS notes a colony needs five to ten years before producing alates, and UGA puts a worker's lifespan at about 1–4 years. Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN369 Source: https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/B1209/