Termites are a group of eusocial insects. While termites are commonly known, especially in Australia, as “white ants,” they are only distantly related to the ants. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10 percent of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests.