How long do termite colonies live?
We do know that the worker and soldier termites only live for a few years, but as the members of a colony are being continually renewed by new eggs from the queen, a colony can outlast individual workers and soldiers. So can we age the termite mounds to get an idea of how long the colony lasts? Unfortunately, unlike corals or trees, termite mounds cannot be easily dated by looking at growth rings. This is because in many colonies the termites are continually re-working the inside of the mound. Individual mounds have been observed to survive for decades. Insect Methuselah? The history of one cathedral mound provides interesting clues as to the age of termites. When the Overland Telegraph line was being constructed, the top of this presumably tall mound was removed in 1872 because it interfered with the wires. At that stage it must have been already several decades old and, fifty years later, in 1935 it was still thriving. This colony may therefore have reached an age of almost 100 years
