Termites are organized, persistent and highly destructive
creatures. They eat cellulose material such as paper, fiberboard, cotton
and especially wood. That's bad news for homeowners.
Every year, termites cause over a billion dollars in damage to US homes. Every year, pest control operators treat over 600 homes!
Thriving in dark, moist conditions, termites rarely leave the soil. In fact - you may have never seen a termite, most people haven't. On average, termites leave their protective environment once a year for the mating process called "swarming". After swarming, termites search for a new location to nest and a new home to feed on. Termites live in large independent colonies. Operating much like a factory, these colonies can be home to anywhere from 250,000 to several million termites. Nymph, worker, soldier and reproductive termites live in the colony, and each has it's own specific task. |
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Termites are social insects that rely on each other for survival. In a process called "randon foraging", termites probe through the soil up to 500 feet from their colonies until they come in contact with a food source. Once a food source is located, termites build
a path to transport food back to the colony. Thousands of termites
travel back and forth from the food source to the nest, carrying with
them the sustenance the colony needs to survive. During this
process, a single termite colony can eat two to three pounds of your
home each week. |
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Subterranean termites occur throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the world, including the continental United States, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Canada. As the name implies, subterranean termites live in colonies below ground. Colonies consist of a primary queen, king, reproductives, workers and soldiers. Workers of the typical eastern subterranean colony generally number up to 250,000, although recent studies indicate they can contain one million or more workers. Formosan termite colonies, on the other hand, are much larger and may have several million workers. |
| Similar to ants, bees and wasps, termites are social insects. All members of the colony are dependent on each other, and each group has a function which must be carried out in order for the colony to survive. To take away a contributing member's designated function is similar to taking away a player from a football team. |
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