Photo 857319, (c) Anita Gould, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Anita Gould

Attribution © Anita Gould
some rights reserved
Uploaded by anita363 anita363
Source Flickr
Original https://www.flickr.com/photos/anitagould/13987075048/
Associated observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Eastern Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes)

Observer

anita363

Date

May 11, 2014 08:44 AM EDT

Description

Reticulitermes flavipes - Eastern Subterranean Termite. 11 mm, incl. wings. We were walking down the sidewalk in our suburban neighborhood, minding our own business, when we were surrounded by a dense swarm of these. At 1st I thought they must be mayflies. A few landed on us for portraits (convenient); I ended up with 1 in my mouth (less convenient -- though supposedly termites are a delicacy. But I don't think you're supposed to eat the wings!). Coincidentally, we had just heard that a house ~50 m away has extensive termite damage, so maybe they came from there. But there is a riverbank patch of decidous woods close by too.

Associated taxa
Sizes