At maturity, a primary queen has a great capacity to lay eggs. In species, the queen adds an extra set of ovaries with each resulting in a greatly distended abdomen and increased fecundity often reported to reach a production of more than 2,000 eggs a day. The distended abdomen increases the queen’s body length to several times more than before mating and reduces her ability to move freely, though attendant workers provide assistance. The queen is widely believed to be a primary source of pheromones useful in colony integration, and these are thought to be spread through shared feeding trophallaxis.

The king grows only slightly larger after initial mating and continues to mate with the queen for life (a termite queen can live for 45 years). This is very different from ant colonies, in which a queen mates once with the male(s) and stores the gametes for life, as the male ants die shortly after mating. The winged (or “alate”) caste, also referred to as the reproductive caste, are generally the only termites with well-developed eyes, although workers of some harvesting species do have well-developed compound eyes, and, in other species, soldiers with eyes occasionally appear.In areas with a distinct dry season, the alates leave the nest in large swarms after the first soaking rain of the rainy season. In other regions, flights may occur throughout the year, or more commonly, in the spring and autumn. Termites are relatively poor fliers and are readily blown downwind in wind speeds of less than 2 km/h, shedding their wings soon after landing at an acceptable site, where they mate and attempt to form a nest in damp timber or earth.

Drywood termites live within wood itself. After a colony of drywood termites has gained entrance to a home, they are capable of dispersing widely throughout many rooms and floors.

When a drywood termite colony is mature, swarms of winged male and female reproductive insects are produced. These reproductive termites fly out of their colony to create new colonies after mating. Warm temperatures and heavy rains instigate swarms.

Although drywood termites are far less common than subterranean termites and are found primarily in coastal, southern states and the Southwestern states, the damage they cause is substantial. Drywood termite infestations are identifiable by piles of fecal pellets. , These fecal pellets are often first noticed in places like windowsills. If you find piles of tiny pellets in your home, it could be a sign of a drywood termite infestation. A trained pest control professional can provide a thorough inspection

Termites are generally grouped according to their feeding behavior. Thus, the commonly used general groupings are subterranean, soil-feeding, drywood, dampwood, and grass-eating. Of these, subterraneans and drywoods are primarily responsible for damage to human-made structures. All termites eat cellulose in its various forms as plant fibre. Cellulose is a rich energy source (as demonstrated by the amount of energy released when wood is burned), but remains difficult to digest. Termites rely primarily upon symbiotic protozoa (metamonads) such as Trichonympha, and other microbes in their gut to digest the cellulose for them and absorb the end products for their own use.