In Australia not a serious pest as it tends to occur in fences, poles and posts outside which are already subject to some decay. Although predominantly a wood feeder species are known to attack crops and living trees (Wood, 1996).
Harris (1971) records Heterotermes as a serious pest of timber in the USA, Caribbean, Central America, parts of South America, most of Asia, and Madagascar.
Pantropical genus.
Wood feeder, common in forests, savannahs and arid areas.
Heterotermes has fixed nest sites in old tree roots, buried logs, or wet buried timber. These sites are often multiple and connected by carton tunnels. In some cases the holding structures are large enough to produce a single central carton nest (Harris, 1971).
In Australia do not build mounds but are found in small colonies adjacent to stumps, logs on the ground, or rotting wood or beside the mounds of other termites (Hadlington, 1987).
