Termites are pretty sneeky little bugs. They don't like to be seen or exposed, so they stay underground, in their mud tubes or in the wood they are eating.

If you do find a termite, it's very helpful to have some pictures of termites to compare against. So for you're viewing pleasure, here are some handy termite pictures to compare against.

The pictures show various termites and the damage they can cause.

If you still wonder what do termites look like check out my other hub.

As you can see from the termite damage pictures below, there are sometimes visible signs of termites, unfortunatlly, it tends to be due to the damage they cause.

In the first picture you can see the damage they caused to the wood, but you also see a bunch of winged flying termites. These are young termite queens and kings. When they settle down to start a nest they shed their wings. So some loose wings can be a significant sign of looming termite problems.

The second and third images show piles of termite frass. These little dust like pelets get kick out of the nest and are a sure sign of Drywood termites. Drywood termites stay living in the wood and don't come out, but they have to remove waste. So a growing pile of frass tells you you have a Drywood termite problem.

Termite mounds are built by termites in hot arid areas of the world to help keep their nests at a constant temperature.  These mounds can grow to be VERY tall, with some reaching over 10 feet tall!  Kinda amazing what one little bug can do when he gets together with millions of his friends.