Wide-headed rottenwood termites and people: This species attacks living trees, quickening their collapse and death from rot on the inside. Colonies are small and rarely have more than one thousand individuals. A single king and queen usually head each colony, but there may be additional termites that can reproduce and contribute broods to the colony. here) have been moved to the newly erected Archotermopsidae (3 genera, including Zootermopsis) and Stolotermitidae (2 exotic genera) ( 1)( 2) Archotermopsidae also used to be treated as a subfamily (Termopsinae. Mated pairs look for tree scars, knotholes, or small pockets of rot or other wounds in trees, where they can gain access to the rotten core. As currently treated, the family Termopsidae includes fossil taxa only the five recent genera formerly included in Termopsidae (e.g.

Kings and queens fly in the middle of the night from late June through early August. Soldiers with powerful jaws defend the colony against ants and other predators. Inside, the galleries are usually quite damp. These and other knotholes are plugged with termite waste in the form of hardened pellets.

The termites sometimes gain access to a rotten tree core through a knothole. The chambers eventually become filled with masses of termite waste. Unlike many other termites, this termite is not known to feed on completely dead and rotten logs or on pines, firs, and their relatives.īehavior and reproduction: Colonies are found in galleries and open chambers in rotten wood. You can further refine your results, or enter a search term below. The Dampwood Termite-sometimes called the rotten wood termite-is associated with high moisture content and wood decay. The termites are found inside the rotten cores of logs and large branches of living willows, cottonwoods, sycamores, oaks, alders, ash, walnuts, hackberries, and other hardwoods.ĭiet: Wide-headed rottenwood termites feed only on rotten hardwoods. Below is a list of additional information and media on this taxon. Habitat: This species lives in dry habitats between 1,500 and 5,500 feet (457 and 1,676 meters) along canyons and river valleys. Wide-headed rottenwood termite are found inside the rotten cores of logs and large branches of living willows, cottonwoods, sycamores, oaks, alders, ash, walnuts, hackberries, and other hardwoods. Geographic range: In the United States these termites are found from central and southeastern Arizona to southern New Mexico and western Texas they also live in Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico.

Rottenwood termites