How many eggs can a mature termite queen lay in a day?

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Learn how termites use salivary secretions to cement debris to decaying wood nests in their rainforest habitat — termite A termite nest in a tropical rainforest.

In mature colonies, a termite queen undergoes a process known as physogastry, where her abdomen enlarges significantly to accommodate her reproductive capacity. In advanced termite families, such as the Termitidae, a physogastric queen can become an "egg-laying machine," producing as many as 36,000 eggs per day for many years.1