TERMITE FEEDING BEHAVIOUR
Termite Trophallaxis: How Termites Feed Each Other
Termites do not function as isolated insects. Food is moved through the colony by workers using social feeding behaviour called trophallaxis.What is trophallaxis?
CSIRO's Managing Termites resource explains that workers feed other castes with regurgitated or hind-gut food in a transfer process called trophallaxis. In plain language, termite workers process food and then distribute it to colony members that depend on them.
This is why a termite colony is better understood as an interconnected social system rather than thousands of insects independently eating timber.
Workers obtain food
Workers forage within protected galleries and feed on suitable cellulose-containing material.
Food is processed
Termite digestion depends on a specialised gut system and associated microorganisms that help break down difficult plant material.
Food is shared
Workers transfer regurgitated or hind-gut food to dependent colony members through trophallaxis.
The colony is supported
Young termites, soldiers and reproductive castes can receive nutrition through this worker-mediated social feeding network.
Mouth-to-mouth feeding is only part of the story
People often describe termite trophallaxis simply as “mouth-to-mouth feeding”. That captures one visible form of exchange, but CSIRO specifically notes both regurgitated food and hind-gut food transfer. The broader point is that material can move socially between colony members rather than every caste feeding for itself.
Australian Museum material also describes termite colonies as maintaining specialised humid nest conditions and relying on social interaction between adults and young. These behaviours help explain how closely integrated colony life is.
What trophallaxis does not tell you
Knowing that termites share food does not by itself identify the species, locate the nest, reveal the extent of damage or determine the correct treatment design for a property. Treatment recommendations still need to account for the termites present, building construction, access, moisture, evidence of activity and the registered product or system being proposed.
If you are comparing a baiting proposal with a liquid treated-zone proposal, review the actual scope, monitoring requirements, products and warranty conditions rather than assuming that all termite treatments work in the same way.