Answer: Termite Queens

Among all insects, even those that spend extended periods of time in the pupal stage like the long-lived North American Cicada, there is no insect that can hold a candle to the lengthy life span of a termite queen.

Termite queens routinely live to 40-50 years of age, outliving their nearest royal insect competitor, the ant queens, by several decades. Further, scientists have hypothesized that under ideal conditions, a termite queen could potentially live to be over a hundred years old. A termite queen will lay 20,000 – 30,000 eggs a day; over a typical 40 year reign, she’ll birth 365 million termites.