From this, a network of galleries extends through the nearby soil, enabling the workers to forage in the surrounding area without emerging on the surface of the ground.

The workers and soldiers are blind, have soft unpigmented bodies and no wings, and normally remain under cover in dark, moist environments.

[3] These soldiers have large, sabre-shaped mandibles and a glandular pore on the forehead which secretes a milky, latex fluid.

They have galleries that spread outwards from the nest in a network of underground passages and covered surface runways that may extend for 50 m (164 ft) from the tree.

Termites are also attractive to mammals such as the numbat and echidna, which break their way into the colony, and when the winged reproductives leave the nest, they are consumed by birds, lizards, and spiders.