6 replies to this topic

[LowQualityAnts]

Hi, a week ago while removing some wooden planters from my yard, I unearthed some termites. I caught some and but them in a container with some dirt and wood. I caught a bunch of workers, soldiers, and one alate nymph from the wood. Is this habitat and the termites I caught enough to start a colony? Is there anything i should/could do to keep the termites long term?

[Ant-nig321]

Well it depends on the species,and is there any pics of them? Plus,i don't think some random termite are going to live long without king or queen.

Edited by Ant-nig321, October 16 2022 - 12:21 AM.

[LowQualityAnts]

I'm on vacation rn but i think they are eastern subterranean termites. I saw that they could live for a few months.

[Ant-nig321]

Wow,that is new information.Drywood termite could molt

Edited by Ant-nig321, October 18 2022 - 9:35 PM.

[Bgood068]

I asked this exact same question about a month ago, but didn’t really get a definitive answer. So I turned back to the internet after catching about 200ish workers, and a handful of soldiers from a dead tree at my cousins. What I have caught are drywood termites, a species native to Florida from what I have identified. What I found though is that depending on the species, workers aren’t necessarily sterile and have the ability to molt into reproductives in the event the queen and/or king dies. Not sure if this is the case for subterranean species though. Also, from what I saw online and what my pest control guy said, workers/ soldiers can live for multiple years in ideal conditions. Reproductives even longer.

[mmcguffi]

If I remember correctly Reticulitermes flavipes can indeed create reproductives from some worker castes. Soldiers are terminally differentiated (can't become a reproductive), and I think maybe a different worker caste is as well? In any case, there is a lot of literature on this species so it should be pretty accessible

 

https://www.tandfonl...14.1999.9522833

Fig. 1 here seems to indicate this does happen, but I just glanced through this paper -- if you are interested I recommend digging through this

[Ant-nig321]

Through what mmcguffi said,i say give them about 3-5months to molt into king and queen