A Termite Queen Lives A Taxing And Long Life
Many of you who are amateur entomologists are probably aware that termites are eusocial insects. This, of course, means that a termite colony is divided into a caste system. This caste system includes workers, soldiers, the king and the queen. The queen is the most complicated of all members of a termite colony. The queen termite lives a long life that does not end well. The king, on the other hand, gets to sit back and relax for most of its life.
First of all, most people are surprised to learn that a queen termite lives to be twenty years old. During that entire twenty year period the queen is producing an enormous amount of eggs. To be more specific, a queen termite will produce one egg every three seconds, which averages out to be thirty thousand eggs per day. After a few more calculations, you will find that, at this rate, a queen termite will produce just under eleven million eggs per year. Since the queen lives to be twenty years old, it will ultimately live to produce one quarter of one billion eggs, which is a lot of offspring to look after. However, it is not the queen that tends to its offspring; instead the offspring tend to their queen. Tending to the queen is a necessity given the queen’s enormous size, and consequent inability to move.
Once the queen becomes impregnated, it will grow from seventeen millimeters to the size of an adult’s index finger. The queen termite’s body extends in order to accommodate the many eggs it produces. The section of the queen’s body that extends is known as the “ovipositor.” The largest termite queen ever recorded was measured at ten centimeters in length. Since the queen becomes too large to move, it must rely on its offspring to clean her body of the sweat that is constantly being excreted by its large body. Once the queen becomes too old to produce eggs, the other members of the termite colony will feast on the queen’s body. By making a meal out of the queen, the offspring are able to consume her nutritious bodily material. These nutrients allow the reproductive termites, also known as alates, to become strong enough for swarming. It is only during the swarming period that the alates are given a chance to start their own colonies.
Have you ever witnessed a termite swarm, but did not realize that you were witnessing flying termites at the time? If you have, did the termite swarm produce an audible sound?