What Are Worker Termites?

Need to get rid of termites? Read on to learn the answers to all your important questions. Need help? Call our professionals today to get started.

What Are Worker Termites?

Termites are considered the pest that is the greatest threat to your wallet. Each year, termites cause billions of dollars of damages to structures all over the country. But they’re not partial to structures. If given the opportunity, termites will destroy and eat books, documents, and even pictures. 

Termites reside and work in colonies that have highly developed social systems. The colonies themselves are divided into social castes made up of workers, soldiers and reproductives and at the top of this social stratification live the king and queen of each colony. 

Worker termites make up 90 to 98 percent of every colony. These termites reside at the bottom of the social totem pole and do all the work that keeps a colony operational. 

What Do Worker Termites Do?

The queen of the termite colony lives at the top of the chain of command in any termite colony. She can lay thousands of eggs in one day. Soldier termites are next in line. Their job is to protect the colony from enemies. They work around the clock, 24 hours a day and are unable to feed themselves. 

This leaves the rest of the work that needs to be done in the colony to the worker termites: digging tunnels, searching for building materials, carrying these building materials, caring for the young and grooming and feeding the soldier termites and the king and queen fall on the shoulders of the workers. Worker termites are sexed as male or female, but because they are sterile, they cannot reproduce. 

What Do Worker Termites Look Like?

Worker termites are creamy in color and have no wings or eyes, which means they are both blind and deaf. Worker termites have 

They have powerful, saw-toothed jaws which they use to carry all the building materials needed for their nests. They also use these strong jaws to eat through the tough wood that makes up your home. 

Call Pest Control Experts

It has been estimated that termite colonies are responsible for damage in 1 in 5 homes in high activity termite areas. This includes the entire southeastern region of the United States. Don’t let your home fall prey to termites and become a part of this statistic! Call Pest Control Experts today to get a recommendation for the best pest care professional for your particular task so you can schedule your home pest inspection as soon as possible.