Dark Southern Subterranean Termite

Reticulitermes virginicus · Order: Blattodea · Family: Rhinotermitidae

Can damage your home. They damage the house by hollowing out wood, leaving a paper-thin surface that may look blistered or peeling.

Source: Wikipedia

Dark Southern Subterranean Termite
Photo: Gerald J. Lenhard, Louisiana State University, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0

These termites are dark brown and live underground, often going unnoticed. Workers eat wood and rely on gut bacteria to break down cellulose. Swarmers appear from early February to late May on warm, sunny afternoons after rain; they have 0.3-inch wings with two thick veins.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

They are dark brown in color.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

Finding alates inside a house may alert the homeowner that termites are present.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They live underground and are often undetected. They can enter buildings through mortar joints or foundation cracks.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

They feed on wood and host symbiotic gut bacteria that digest cellulose.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Swarming is most common on warm, sunny afternoons after rain.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

They are native to North America, especially the southern United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas, Virginia, District of Columbia.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: introduced in Canada; native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

Questions people ask

How can I tell if these termites are in my home?

You may notice alates inside, and the wood will show a thin, paper-like surface that looks blistered or peeling.

Source: Wikipedia

When do these termites swarm?

Swarmers emerge from early February through late May, especially on warm, sunny afternoons after rain.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Rhinotermitidae)

Eastern Subterranean TermiteEastern Subterranean TermiteReticulitermes flavipesCan damage your homeWestern Subterranean TermiteWestern Subterranean TermiteReticulitermes hesperusCan damage your homeFormosan subterranean termiteFormosan subterranean termiteCoptotermes formosanusCan damage your homeAsian subterranean termiteAsian subterranean termiteCoptotermes gestroiCan damage your homeDesert Subterranean TermiteDesert Subterranean TermiteHeterotermes aureusCan damage your homeMediterranean TermiteMediterranean TermiteReticulitermes lucifugus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticulitermes_virginicus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.