A termite nest is also known as a termitary or termitarium (plural termitaria or termitariums). "Termite" derives from the Latin and Late Latin word termes ("woodworm, white ant"), altered by the influence of Latin terere ("to rub, wear, erode") from the earlier word tarmes. The infraorder name Isoptera is derived from the Greek words iso (equal) and ptera (winged), which refers to the nearly equal size of the fore and hind wings. Some species, such as the West Indian drywood termite ( Cryptotermes brevis), are regarded as invasive species.
Several hundred species are economically significant as pests that can cause serious damage to buildings, crops, or plantation forests. Termites are a delicacy in the diet of some human cultures and are used in many traditional medicines.
Colonies are described as superorganisms because the termites form part of a self-regulating entity: the colony itself.
Unlike ants, which undergo a complete metamorphosis, each individual termite goes through an incomplete metamorphosis that proceeds through egg, nymph, and adult stages. Termite queens have the longest known lifespan of any insect, with some queens reportedly living up to 30 to 50 years. Their colonies range in size from a few hundred individuals to enormous societies with several million individuals. Termites are among the most successful groups of insects on Earth, colonising most landmasses except Antarctica. Termites are major detritivores, particularly in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and plant matter is of considerable ecological importance. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material and cellulose, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung. All colonies have fertile males called "kings" and one or more fertile females called "queens". Like ants and some bees and wasps from the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide as "workers" and "soldiers" that are usually sterile. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus Cryptocercus. Termites are eusocial insects that are classified at the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively as epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches). Formosan subterranean termite ( Coptotermes formosanus)
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