Winged termites always travel in large swarms, searching for a place to establish a new colony. They are commonly known in Thai as maeng mao (fig.), i.e. ‘drunken insects’, since they seem to be completely disorientated and once they have dropped onto the floor, they act even more so, going around in circles, as if they are drunk.

Though most will die in the process, it takes only one male and one female to become the king and queen of a new colony.