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Oct. 22, 2009 10:07 AM

The role of the queen in a termite colony varies and changes over time. After pairing with a male, she begins her job as "founder" to get the colony started. She has to locate a suitable nest site, help excavate it, and then start producing eggs that will become workers.

Egg production is slow at first, but increases year by year; the queen maintains peak egg performance for seven to 10 years. Once the secondary queens - which are produced within the colony - begin egg-laying, colony size (number of workers) increases rapidly.

A colony of about 1,000 workers at two years can multiply into 300,000 workers in five more years. Secondary queens are usually located in satellite nests away from, but connected to the main nest, so colonies can grow in size and number of individuals.