The typical termite colony is composed of members showing structural characteristics that scientists use to classify the termites. The four groups of termites, workers, soldiers, immature individuals, and reproductives each have particular roles in the colony. The workers, which are sterile, blind, and wingless, tend the eggs, feed the soldiers and the young, and maintain the nest. Protozoans living in the termites digestive tract convert wood to sugars that the termites can use for nourishment. Without these one celled animals, the termites would starve. Soldiers' sole purpose in life is to defend the colony against intruders. The variety of these defense mechanisms that have been evolved in different species will be discussed later. A young individual will develop into a winged reproductive, soldier, or a worker depending on the current needs of the colony. Reproductives obviously supply the colony with new individuals. Only one pair of active reproductives exists in a colony. The king and queen are usually sealed into a chamber where they are tended by workers. The queen also circulates different chemicals among the workers for stimulating the transformation of immature termites into soldiers, workers, or "secondary" reproductives - members who will develop wings and found new colonies. When a worker feeds the queen, the queen immediately knows if a particular group needs replenishing. For example, if a large number of soldiers were killed while repelling an enemy, the queen intercepts this information from the chemicals transferred from a worker. The queen then circulates a greater amount of "soldier chemical" in the colony by exuding the chemical from its body. Workers tending the queen take the chemical to other members and the young who will eventually develop into soldiers.

The defense mechanisms of termites have received a tremendous amount of attention from scientists. Soldiers rely on chemical as well as physical weapons. Some termite species bite their attacker and coat the wound with a toxic chemical that also prevents clotting. Other termites simply daub their aggressor with a built-in paint brush or inject the chemical directly. Another type of chemical warfare employed is squirting, in which the soldier termite uses its elongated "snout" to spray the enemy with toxin. The spray may also be a gluey substance that entangles the invader much like a fly is caught on flypaper. In certain species of termites, the galleries are constructed in such a way that the head of the soldiers can act as a plug, effectively cutting off an entrance for enemies.

Termites have a host of general and specific enemies. In Africa, the anteater may attack a large termite mound by burrowing into the mound with its large, clawed front paws. It then proceeds to lick up any exposed termites. The insects usually can survive the attack of the anteater, because this animal does not consume a great deal of individuals. The damage done to the mound is sometimes fatal, for marauding ants, termites' principal and most deadly enemy, can attack the colony. Because a particularly hungry anteater may open up whole sections of the mound, the termites have a greater area to defend, and worse, the queen may be exposed. Although termites have a tremendous chemical arsenal at their disposal, these insects are no match for a tribe of viscous ants in these extreme conditions. Much of the time, however, the termites can re-construct the nest before they are discovered, especially if the damage is not too extensive.