How many different types of termites are there?
There are more than 2800 termite species in the world. This is not many compared to the more than 11,000 different species of ants, but quite a lot compared to the 280 or so different marsupials. There are about 263 termite species found in Australia and around 160 of these can be found in northern Australia (reference 2). Although termites all look pretty similar to our eyes, and although they are not as diverse as the ants, there is a marked difference between many of the species. For example, one of the smallest Australian species, Occultitermes occultus, has soldiers a little over 2mm long — compare this to Neotermes insularis soldiers with giant heads 7mm long and 15mm in length overall with large mandibles.
