What eats termites?
Plenty of animals eat termites. None of them will protect your house.
Many animals eat termites, but not enough to matter
Termites are a rich, soft food, so a long list of animals eat them. Ants are the main predator. Lizards, frogs, spiders, birds, echidnas and numbats also take them when they get the chance.
That is good news for the bush and no help at all for your house. A colony lives out of sight, in soil, timber and sealed tunnels, where almost none of these animals can reach it.
The predators you are most likely to see
- Ants. They raid termite galleries and workings that have been opened up. Some ants nest right beside termites and keep the two in a standoff.
- Lizards and geckos. They pick off winged termites (alates) when a swarm leaves the colony, often around outdoor lights.
- Birds. They feed on swarmers in the air and on termites exposed in rotting logs and stumps.
- Echidnas and numbats. Both are specialist termite eaters, and both dig into mounds and logs in the wild.
- Spiders and frogs. They take the odd termite that wanders out, but only the odd one.
Why predators cannot protect a house
A mature colony holds a very large number of insects, and it breeds faster than a few predators can thin it. The workers feed from tunnels you will not see. The queen is deep inside the nest, well away from anything that eats the surface insects.
So the colony carries on feeding on your timber while the lizard eats the swarmers on the patio. Predation controls termites across a landscape. It does not control the colony in your subfloor.
Do not keep ants as a termite control
You will see claims that encouraging ants, or leaving ants alone, keeps termites away. Do not rely on it. Ants and termites often share the same cavity, and a house can have both at once.
If you see ants and termites together, the pairing is a reason for an inspection. It is not a reason to relax. Our guide to telling a termite from an ant shows the quick checks.
What to do if you see termites being eaten
Leave it alone and note where it is. Winged termites inside the house, or a pile of discarded wings on a sill, mean a colony is close and mature. Birds or lizards feeding around an old stump or fence post can point to a nest nearby.
Do not spray the insects or break open the timber to look. Disturbing a colony makes it close that route and reopen another somewhere you cannot see, and it destroys the evidence an inspector needs. Book a licensed timber pest inspection and tell the inspector what you saw and where.
Natural predators are interesting. They are not a defence. The defence is a barrier built to the standard, a regular inspection, and keeping timber away from soil and moisture.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main predator of termites?
Ants are the main predator. Lizards, birds, frogs, spiders, echidnas and numbats also eat termites.
Do ants eat termites?
Yes. Ants raid termite workings that have been opened, but they do not remove a hidden colony and they often share the same cavity.
Can predators protect my house from termites?
No. The colony feeds from hidden tunnels where predators cannot reach it, so natural predation is no protection for a house.
What should I do if I see termites being eaten near my house?
Do not spray or break anything open. Note the location and book a licensed timber pest inspection.
Sources
What this page explains is based on these official sources. If you check one and it does not match what you read here, send it to us and the article gets corrected.
- Department of Health, Victoria. Pest control: termites
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission. Protect against termites: termite management systems and inspections
- Standards Australia. Australian Standards (AS 3660 termite management, AS 4349.3 timber pest inspection)
- Australian Building Codes Board. National Construction Code