These pests cause serious damage to wooden structures and posts and may also attack stored food and household furniture. Reproductives function to perpetuate the colony. At certain times during the year, swarms of males and females fly to new areas. They shed their wings, mate, and establish new colonies. Soldiers have greatly enlarged heads and jaws that they use to defend the colonies.
Workers are responsible for constructing living chambers and tunnels and foraging for food.
Both soldiers and workers are sterile. Habitats Subterranean termites require a moist environment, which in most cases means they must stay in contact with the soil. To reach wood that is not in contact with the soil, they construct shelter tubes to bridge the distance between soil and susceptible wood. Most subterranean termite damage occurs in foundation and structural support wood. Drywood termites do not need much moisture.