Eusocial
Guides
Tenuirostritermes cinereus
Tenuirostritermes cinereus is a species of termite in the family Termitidae, subfamily Nasutitermitinae. It was first described by Buckley in 1862. The species is distributed across Central America and North America. As a member of the Nasutitermitinae, it belongs to a group commonly known as "nasute termites" characterized by specialized defensive secretions.
Termitidae
Higher Termites
Termitidae is the largest family of termites, containing over 2,100 described species and representing the most evolutionarily specialized termite group. Members lack the flagellated protozoan symbionts found in lower termites, instead relying on bacterial and archaeal gut symbionts for digestion. This family exhibits exceptional dietary diversity, with approximately 60% of species being soil-feeders and others consuming wood, grass, leaf litter, fungi, lichen, and humus. Termitidae encompasses multiple subfamilies including Macrotermitinae (fungus-growing termites), Nasutitermitinae (nasute termites with defensive frontal projections), and numerous soil-feeding lineages.
Vespa crabro
European hornet
The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is the largest true hornet native to Europe and the only established Vespa species in North America. Introduced to the eastern United States in the mid-1800s, it has spread west to the Rocky Mountains. This eusocial wasp constructs paper nests in enclosed cavities such as hollow trees, wall voids, and abandoned beehives. Unlike many social wasps, it exhibits nocturnal foraging behavior and is attracted to light. While capable of delivering painful stings when nests are disturbed, it is generally less aggressive toward humans than yellowjackets and is not considered a major threat to honey bee colonies.
Vespinae
Hornets and Yellowjackets
Vespinae is a subfamily of eusocial wasps within Vespidae, encompassing the largest and most familiar social wasps. The subfamily includes true hornets (genus Vespa), yellowjackets (genera Dolichovespula and Vespula), and the poorly known nocturnal genus Provespa from Southeast Asia. These wasps construct paper nests from chewed wood fibers and exhibit complex colonial organization with queen-worker caste differentiation. Several species have become invasive beyond their native ranges, posing significant threats to apiculture and native ecosystems.
Xyleborus affinis
sugarcane shot-hole borer
Xyleborus affinis is a highly widespread ambrosia beetle native to the American tropics, now found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It cultivates symbiotic fungi in galleries bored into decaying wood, feeding exclusively on these fungal gardens. The species exhibits facultative eusociality with delayed dispersal of adult offspring, who assist with nest maintenance and brood care. Females are the dispersing sex and are strongly attracted to ethanol and specific host plant volatiles. Despite frequent association with declining trees, it primarily colonizes wood already in early decay rather than causing primary mortality.
Zootermopsis angusticollis
Pacific Dampwood Termite
Zootermopsis angusticollis is a dampwood termite species native to the Pacific coast of North America. It is among the largest termites in North America and is notable for its strict dependence on moist, decaying wood. The species is eusocial, living in colonies with distinct castes including workers, soldiers, nymphs, and reproductives. It has been extensively studied as a model organism for hindgut symbiont ecology and represents one of the best-studied lower termites in terms of gut microbial communities.
Zootermopsis nevadensis
Nevada Dampwood Termite, Nevada Termite
Zootermopsis nevadensis is a eusocial dampwood termite in the family Archotermopsidae, native to the western United States. It is a hemimetabolous species with complex caste differentiation including workers, soldiers, alates, and neotenic reproductives. The species has been extensively studied for its genomic characteristics, including exceptionally high DNA methylation levels and reduced opsin genes associated with its subterranean lifestyle. Two subspecies are recognized: Z. n. nevadensis and Z. n. nuttingi, with the latter having its genome sequenced.
Zootermopsis nevadensis nevadensis
damp-wood termite, Nevada dampwood termite
Zootermopsis nevadensis nevadensis is a lower termite subspecies inhabiting cooler coastal and higher elevation areas of the western United States. It lives entirely within damp wood and does not forage outside its gallery system. The species exhibits hemimetabolous development with multiple progressive juvenile instars that function as workers. These workers retain developmental plasticity, capable of differentiating into alates (winged reproductives), neotenic reproductives, or soldiers depending on colony needs. The subspecies possesses exceptionally high levels of DNA methylation compared to other insects, with methylation patterns more similar to non-insect invertebrates than to holometabolous insects.