Reticulitermes flavipes
SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE FAMILY (Rhinotermitidae)

Description
The worker termite is about 1/4 inch long. It is white to grayish-white with a round head. The worker is wingless, soft-bodied and blind. The soldier termite is also 1/4 inch long. It is similar in appearance to the worker, but it has a large rectangular yellowish-brown head with black mandibles. The adult reproductive termites (kings and queens) are winged and are 3/8 to 1/2 inch long. They have 2 pairs of long, narrow, grayish transparent wings of equal size (Photo F). After the mating swarm, the wings fall off.

Occurrence
These social insects are probably common throughout Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods. The Eastern Subterranean Termite is the most common termite in North America. A mature colony can range from 20,000 workers to 5 million. The reproductive flying swarms occur during the daytime in spring (Photo G). These are usually the termites that are seen, as the workers and soldiers remain underground and are rarely seen. The adult winged termites do not cause damage to buildings.

Comments
Male Hexapods in the Order Collembola deposit sperm in a packet (spermatophore). The female then picks up the packet with her genital opening. There are 81 species in the genus Hypogastrura in North America.

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