Drywood Termite vs Globe Termite

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Drywood Termite Globe Termite
Scientific Name Cryptotermes brevis Globitermes sulphureus
Order Blattodea Blattodea
Family Kalotermitidae Termitidae
Size 4-7 mm 4-7 mm
Habitat Indoors Woodlands
Diet Wood Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions North America, South America, Central America, Africa, Oceania Southeast Asia, from Thailand to Indonesia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Drywood Termite

A small termite that lives entirely within dry wood without needing contact with soil. It forms small colonies inside furniture, structural timbers, and dead branches.

💡

Did You Know?

Drywood termites produce distinctive hexagonal fecal pellets that they kick out of tiny holes in wood, often the first sign of their presence.

Globe Termite

A Southeast Asian termite with soldiers that practice autothysis, or suicidal self-destruction. When threatened, soldiers contract their abdominal muscles to rupture their body wall, releasing a yellow, sticky secretion that entangles attackers. Colonies build small carton nests.

💡

Did You Know?

Soldiers literally explode when attacked, rupturing a gland filled with toxic yellow liquid that solidifies into a sticky trap, sacrificing themselves for the colony.