After the first big rain, western subterranean termites swarm by the thousands. Hungry ants, spiders and birds pick them off as they emerge from the soil. The survivors fly off to find mates, and quickly drop their delicate wings to start new underground colonies. If you’re really unlucky, they’ll build tubes of mud and saliva from their nest to yours.

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These massive swarms of western subterranean termites happen once a year in California on a warm, windless day shortly after the first big rain that ended the dry summer.

Winged termites called alates push through the softened soil. They crawl out of cracks in the road and holes in tree stumps. Bigheaded soldier termites stand guard to defend them.

Underground colonies send these alates up to reproduce with alates from nearby colonies.

Once a male and female alate find each other, their wings break off. The male runs after the female very quickly, before they both dig themselves into the earth and start their own colony.



Do all termites fly?

Only some members of any termite colony can fly. But all types of termites (subterranean, drywood and dampwood) produce alates, whose job it is to fly out and start new colonies.

Do flying termites eat wood?

No. Once a pair of flying termites have hooked up, they lose their wings, dig underground, mate and lay thousands of eggs. They will be the king and queen of their colony. The worker termites they make will then leave the nest to forage for sources of cellulose, like a dead tree, or wood in a house. When they return to the nest, these workers will feed the colony’s king and queen, as well as the young termites.

Should I worry about flying termites?

If you see termites flying out inside your house, they could be a sign of infestation. But the more common signs of a subterranean termite infestation are tubes made from earth that worker termites build at the bottom of your house connecting wooden structures to the soil. Termites build these socalled shelter tubes from mud, saliva and even bits of wood or drywall. The insects desiccate easily and need these covered shelter tubes to stay moist.

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