Scientific name: Coptotermes formosana

Hawaiian Name: —

Classification: Phylum: Arthropoda. Class: Insecta. Order: Isoptera. Family: Coptotermitidae

Origin: Introduced; first found in 1869.

Status: Common in warm lowlands.

Distribution: On most of the main islands in association with human habitation.

Map: —

The little fella has caused more dollars worth of damage than any other pest in Hawai‘i. Coming here before 1869 from Taiwan or China, this termite lives in colonies that can number into the millions as they chew their way through anything made of wood. Their cousin, the drywood termite, is less damaging and has much smaller colonies (sometimes as few as a dozen or so).