Truly Nolen Pest Control: Facts About the Termite Queen

What do you know about termites? More specifically, what do you know about a termite queen? If you’ve never had to know your carpenter ants from your termites, then you may be surprised to learn that termite queens are a surprisingly fascinating insect. Their role within a termite community is a very different one to worker termites. Pest control experts know that for any successful termite removal, you must locate the queen. Let’s have a quick look at this unique insect and the intriguing role it plays within a termite colony.

Some Information About the Termite Queen

The termite queen lives a varied and comfortable life within her colony. Her early years are the most active ones. Once she pairs with a lucky male, she must find a nest to reproduce and live in. The termite queen and king will choose a strategic location, excavate the space around it and allow her to begin to produce the worker ants. At this point, the king and queen are the same size. After mating, the queen will slowly start to increase in size, expanding her abdomen to extraordinary dimensions (and is one of only a few animals capable of expanding her abdomen in such an extreme way). For this reason, a queen termite is by far the biggest inhabitant of the colony and can grow to 4-6 inches. Living for an astonishing 25-50 years, the queen becomes a protected, precious and enormous egg-laying machine. Once her body has transformed, the queen’s sole purpose within the colony is to produce eggs, normally with peak activity for around 10 years. She has a slow start, but eventually, she can lay eggs every day– productivity increases in warm, seasonable weather during spring and summer. The eggs are transferred to other chambers by worker ants and some of those eggs will even create secondary queen termites. The colony size can explode, and within five years can be 300,000 ants strong. The king’s role is to help her to do that. The couple are so protected and so revered by the rest of the colony, that they even have their own ‘royal chamber’, which is in the center of the colony with many access and exit points, and thick protective walls. They’re fed, groomed and protected by the workers. In the event of danger, they’re both protected and even dragged to safety by the workers if need be.

Why a Termite Infestation is Bad News

So you already know that a few years after a nest is established, you’re going to have an incredible amount of insects to be dealing with. But have you considered their diet? The majority of their diet is wood, and while they can feed on trees, your home is a much more attractive alternative. Any lumber and wooden materials used in the foundation of your home will make an easy and nutritional meal for termites. This is particularly bad news since you have an idea of how many termites there can be in a single nest, and that a large percentage of North American homes are constructed with wood framing.

How Truly Nolen Can Help

Termite damage causes several billion dollars of damage to homes in North America every year. Don’t become a part of that statistic – seek our expert pest control help as soon as you find a termite on your property. Over the years we’ve put a lot of effort into researching and producing our unique Total Termite Protection Plan. A variety of control techniques and innovate safeguards are combined in one effective and comprehensive treatment program. Contact us today for a free quote.