Though these sterile worker and soldier termites are of both sexes, their reproductive development is suppressed by hormones secreted by the king and queen. If the original king and queen die the lack of these hormones will permit more reproductives to develop very quickly. Non-reproductive termites, on the other hand, usually live for only a couple of years. The termites are closely related to the cockroaches, but like the ants, termites are also social insects. However, the evolutionary origin of termite social behavior is entirely different from that of ants, bees and wasps.
Termites live in large colonies of cooperating individuals of three different castes.
A caste is a group of insects that performs certain highly specialized tasks. The three termite castes are the reproductives, workers and soldiers. Termite reproductives are the elite and they are provided with every necessity of life by the soldiers and workers. The soldiers are sterilized adults that are specialized for defending the colony. They have large mandibles and heavily armored heads.