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Information About Termite
A
typical homeowner's insurance policy does not cover
destruction caused by termites, even though they cause over 1
billion dollars in damage to homes throughout the United
States each year. It’s important that homeowners understand
the threat of termites, and take the necessary steps to
protect their homes.
Subterranean termites are extremely destructive. First
they build tunnels to wooden structures, and then they burrow
into those structures to obtain food. Any wood or
cellulose-containing material constitutes termite food, and
given time to do so, they’ll eat until nothing is left but a
shell. Termites avoid light and air, so they build their
colonies where you’re not likely to stumble upon them.
The subterranean termite colony is a highly
coordinated sytem composed of three main varieties: workers,
soldiers and reproductives. Each kind has specific
responsibilities.
Worker
Termites
Workers have creamy-white soft
bodies and are appoximately 1/4 inch long. Worker termites are
the type most often seen when active termite damage is
discovered. Often they are found still eating on the wood.
They have many responsibilities including tunneling, building,
feeding and servicing the other termites (reproductives and
soldiers). Because they are in charge of providing food to the
colony, they constantly forage in search of wood based food,
traveling as far as 250 feet from the colony. The other
termites in the colony can't forage for food, so they depend
upon the worker termites to feed them.
When worker termites find cellulose
material, food, they leave a "pheromone," or scent trail to
lead other worker termites in the colony to the food that they
find. Worker termites enter a home through tiny cracks in the
foundation or slab, through utility entry points or anywhere
that soil contacts wood. If they can't find an easy entrance
point near the ground, they will construct mud tunnels (also
called shelter tubes) to access areas above ground. These
tubes protect them from low humidity and predators. The tubes
are usually 1/4-1 inch wide (about the thickness of a pencil).
Homeowners will often find these coming up the side of the
house or in the basement or crawl
space.
Soldier
Termites
The soldier's role is to
protect the colony from predators, mostly ants. And they are
much less common than the workers.
Reproductive
Termites
Reproductive termites are shiny,
dark brown to black in color and approximately 1/4 - 1/2 inch
long.
A mature colony will produce new reproductive
termites called "swarmers" or "alates." Following a brief
flight, the swarmers come to rest, shed their wings and try to
find a member of the opposite sex in an attempt to mate and
begin a new colony in the soil. Homeowners often see these in
the spring and/or fall on a wet, warm day.
Very few swarmers emerging indoors
survive to initiate new colonies because they are unable to
find a moist location below the soil. A swarm indoors does
indicate however that an infestation of the home is present.
If you witness a termite swarm in your home or find the small
translucent wings, you should have your home inspected to
determine the extent of the infestation, the species present
in your home and other treatment options.
On the off chance you do see
them, remember that it’s easy to confuse termites with ants.
Fortunately, there are features that distinguish them.
Ants
- narrow waists
- bent
antennae
- two sets of wings
(one wing is longer than the
other)
Termites
- thick waists
- straight antennae
- two sets of wings
(same size)
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