The oldest unambiguous termite fossils date to the early Cretaceous although structures from the late Triassic have been interpreted as fossilized termite nests. Given the diversity of Cretaceous termites, it is likely that they had their origin atleast sometime in the Jurassic.

Termites were once known as “white ants” they live in social communities, the nymph’s stage of termites develop into few different castes; all these castes contribute in an individual way to the growth of the colony. The termite is one of the world’s oldest forms of life.



Termite can be broken into two main varieties drywood termite & subterranean termite.

        • The queen termite lays 1000-2000 eggs per day & lives for almost 25 years
        • The soldier termites function is to protect the colony from intruders
        • The worker termites search for food for the colony members
        • Termite reproductive are the future kings & queens



Facts about Termites

        • A gourmet delight in Singapore is 2-inch long termite queens. For only a few dollars
            you can have them served either live (YUM!), dipped in alcohol, or preserved in a
            fine rice wine.

        • It is estimated that for every human on Earth there may be 1000 pounds of termites.

        • The Queen of a species of African termite may eventually grow to 5 inches long,
            and lay up to 30,000 eggs each day.

        • There have been documented cases of the Queen of a termite colony living for over
            50 years, and some scientists believe it is possible they may live to be 100 years
            old.

        • An "insect specialist" in India is promoting the idea that eating live termites will
            improve a person's sex drive. He suggests popping them into the mouth and
            allowing them to slide - alive and wriggling - down your throat. He currently sells
            huge queen termites for $10 each. For those unable to "stomach" the idea of
            swallowing the termites in this manner,  Mr. Michael Chia allows a person to
            swallow them along with a gulp of red wine.

        • Some African and Australian termite colonies may contain over 3 million individuals:
            that's enough to fill 7 large pickup trucks placed end to end they would stretch 100
            miles

        • Scientists estimate that, worldwide, termites may release over 150 million tons of
           methane gas into the atmosphere annually. In our lower atmosphere this methane
            then reacts to form carbon dioxide and ozone - two of the notorious "greenhouse"
            gases.