Termite Identification: How to Tell Termites From Look-Alikes

• Termites have a broad, unpinched waist, unlike the ant's thin pinched waist.
• Termite antennae are straight (not elbowed), versus the ant's bent/elbowed antennae.
• Termite swarmers have two pairs of wings of equal size, unlike ants whose front wings are longer than hind wings.
• Swarmers shed their wings shortly after emergence, often leaving only detached wings behind.
• Termite soldiers have distinctly larger, amber or brownish heads and larger mandibles than workers, for colony defense.

People most often mix termites up with:

• Ants

Open the other page and compare its list against the marks above; the differences are usually in the antennae, wings or the way the body is divided.

Termites are economically significant structural pests requiring professional treatment, but in nature they also play a positive ecological role, breaking down woody debris and returning nutrients to soil.

Subterranean termites nest in soil and infest wood in contact with soil; drywood termites nest above ground directly inside dry wood without needing soil contact.

Get as close as your camera will focus, from directly above, in daylight or a bright lamp. Include the whole body with the legs and antennae in frame; a second shot from the side shows wings and body segments. Put a coin or ruler next to it for scale. For a bite or a bug found on skin or bedding, photograph the bug itself, not the mark. The app names the likely group; use the list above to confirm.

Termites of all kinds share the same body plan: a thick waist, straight antennae, shorter legs than ants and, in swarmers, two pairs of wings of equal length (DoMyOwn; Texas A&M AgriLife). Colour depends on caste: Terminix describes workers as creamy white to pale tan, soldiers as light-coloured with darker, orange heads and swarmers as dark. Which type you have depends mostly on where they live:

• Subterranean termites: nest underground and build mud tubes to reach wood; they are found in most US states (DoMyOwn). Swarmers are 1/4 to 3/8 inch, pale yellow-brown to black, with four wings (Texas A&M AgriLife).
• Drywood termites: do not need soil contact and live inside the wood they eat; usually found in southern coastal areas (DoMyOwn). Swarmers are light yellow to black with clear to smoky grey wings, about 7/16 inch (Texas A&M AgriLife).
• Formosan termites: a subterranean species; Terminix gives 1/8 to 1/2 inch and caramel to brownish-yellow. In Texas it is found mainly in the Houston-Galveston and Beaumont-Port Arthur areas (Texas A&M AgriLife).
• Dampwood termites: their droppings are rounded at both ends, like a football, without the ridges of drywood termite pellets (UC IPM).

Look for these signs, most of which you can find without opening a wall:

• Swarmers or piles of wings near windows, doors and lights. Swarmers shed their wings soon after emerging, so detached wings are often all that is left.
• Mud tubes on foundations, walls or piers. Subterranean termite workers build them from soil, bits of wood and saliva to stay protected and moist (UC IPM; Texas A&M AgriLife).
• Drywood pellets. Hard, about 1/25 inch long, seed-like, with six lengthwise ridges (Texas A&M AgriLife), pushed out of kickout holes less than 2 mm across (UC IPM).
• Damaged wood. Darkening or blistering of structural wood (UC IPM), wood that sounds hollow (Terminix), or clean galleries free of debris that can run across the grain (Texas A&M AgriLife).
• Live termites in wood, which UC IPM calls a sure sign of an active infestation.

Swarms are the moment most people first see termites, and the timing helps identify the type:

• Subterranean (Reticulitermes): in the afternoon in spring or fall, on clear days after a soaking rain (UC IPM); Texas A&M AgriLife gives spring, usually after rain, in daylight.
• Drywood: Texas A&M AgriLife gives late summer and early fall, at dusk or early evening; UC IPM reports drywood swarmers in California during daytime hours in summer and fall. Timing varies by region.

A new colony grows slowly, to only about 75 individuals in its first year, while mature subterranean colonies can hold hundreds of thousands (UC IPM). A swarm from inside a house therefore usually means an established colony nearby.

• Winged ants, by far the most common: ants have narrow waists, elbowed antennae and front wings longer than the hind wings, while termites have body segments of similar width, straight antennae and four wings of equal length (Texas A&M AgriLife). See ants.
• Carpenter bees, which also bore into wood, but have a shiny, hairless abdomen rather than the termite's uniform pale body (Terminix).
• Dampwood termite pellets mistaken for drywood pellets: dampwood droppings are football-shaped without ridges (UC IPM).

Nothing a homeowner can buy kills a termite colony immediately. UC IPM states that there are no reliable over-the-counter termite control products for the public in California, that all effective products are for professional use, and that homeowners are unlikely to control subterranean termites on their own. What professionals use:

• Soil treatments for subterranean termites, and baits, which UC IPM says may take several months or even years to control the problem and need constant monitoring.
• Fumigation for drywood termites with sulfuryl fluoride, which kills them within several days, and heat treatment, which requires heating all wood to at least 120 °F and holding it for at least 33 minutes (UC IPM).

On smells: the sources used here do not describe any scent that repels termites. UC IPM reports that lab and field tests from two universities question the effectiveness of d-limonene (orange oil) as a local drywood treatment. For an infestation, get an inspection from a licensed pest management professional.

Research and drafting for this page used AI assistance. Every figure, date and quotation was then checked line by line against the sources listed at the bottom of the page, each of which was opened while writing. Nothing here is a diagnosis. If a bite, sting or contact with an insect is followed by trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, spreading redness, fever or any symptom that worries you, get medical care; in the United States Poison Help (1-800-222-1222) is free and open 24 hours a day.