The eastern subterranean termite is the most damaging urban pest, costing more than $1 billion annually for control and repair to damaged structures. When this damage becomes evident, it is usually the result of a few years of infestation. Although damage by termites is a serious problem it is not a sudden onslaught that will cause a building to collapse in a few days.
Generally, the first indirect sign of infestation is fecal pellets or the presence of alates on windowsills or near lights. Alates are the winged form of the eastern subterranean termite, commonly called a swarmer. If they are found inside a home with closed windows and doors, this can be an indication of infestation within the structure. Another indication is the presence of discarded wings near emergence sites, on windowsills, or caught up in cobwebs. However, the presence of alates outdoors is a natural phenomenon and is not a direct sign that your home is infested with termites.
Identification
Difficulty in controlling termites is largely due to their social nature of living in colonies containing up to one million members that are usually located in the soil and comprised of three groups: workers, soldiers, and reproductives. The queen, who never leaves the nest, and males (primary reproductives) are colored dark-brown or black and are about 3/8 to 1/2 inches long. Workers have chewing mouthparts and are the ones who cause all the damage in wooden structures as they feed along the grain in the soft portion of the wood and create galleries lined with muddy fecal material (a large colony can eat about a pound of wood a day!). They are completely cream-colored, soft-bodied, can survive up to five years, and are blind. The workers are the most numerous group with 60,000 to 5 million in a given colony. These workers also forage for food up to 230 feet away from the colony, tend eggs, young, and reproductives, and build tubes. Still, however, workers are seldom seen unless a tube or infested wood is broken open. In this case, the soliders come to defend the breached area. Soldiers have rectangular, brownish heads and cream-colored abdomens but they only make up 1 - 3% of the foraging termite population. They have smooth mandibles that protrude from the front of the head and are specialized to defend the colony. However, the position of the mandibles makes it impossible for soldiers to feed themselves so they are fed by workers. Alates, the winged forms, are brownish-black with wings. They are attracted to light, and when they emerge within buildings, they swarm about doors and windows.
Life Cycle
Termites have three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult. When nymphs hatch from eggs, they are cared for by adult termites in the colony. Nymphs shed their skins, a process called molting, several times as they grow, each time becoming more like an adult until they are full grown.
Alates, the winged reproductive termites, are day swarmers and appear from late January to early February. After swarming, they drop their wings and look for a nesting site. They are often confused with ants, but the termites have a broader waist long, L-shaped antennae and wing stubs. Furthermore, the four wings of termites are of equal length and nearly twice as long as the termite body, while ant wings are approximately equal to the length of the ant, and the fore and hind wings are of unequal length. After they drop their wings, alates search for a place to begin a colony. They burrow into the ground or rotten wood, where the queen begins laying eggs.
Habitat
A typical entry into a structure occurs around pipes or other utilities that penetrate the concrete slab of a structure. Workers use carton tubes to gain entry in which they travel to and from the nest to forage. Wood embedded in earth or in concrete cellar floors is especially susceptible to termites.
After gaining entry into a structure, termites begin creating extensive galleries throughout the building in order to travel. They can be located in basement or cellar areas, structural timbers above the cellar walls - mudsill, studs, joists, subflooring, and floors. Also in wood posts, posts, steps, door frames, trim embedded in earth or concrete floor, any wood materials covered by earth or resting on ground, and especially around furnaces, chimneys, hot water heaters, and hot water pipes.
Termite nests and tubes are made of mud and carton. Carton is composed of partially chewed wood, feces, and soil packed together. The fecal material incorporated into carton tubes is more moist than drywood termite pellets and contains lignin, the relatively indigestible portion of wood. As mentioned, termites use carton to make nests as well as to create the characteristic tubes that they use to travel from place to place. The tubes serve to maintain the high humidity required for survival and they act as protection from predators. These tubes also may serve as swarming exits for the winged termites. Aerial infestations, when no ground connection is present, are also known to occur if adequate food and moisture are available.
Diet
Termites actually eat anything containing cellulose and since the main component of wood is cellulose, termites feed upon wood, including structural wood especially that which is in contact with soil. In addition they can also feed on old roots, stumps of trees, fallen tree limbs and branches on the ground, and similar materials. Termites have also been known to attack swimming pool liners and PVC pipes. In buildings, termites feed on wood fixtures, paper, books, cotton, and related products because they too contain cellulose.
This diet means that termites aid in decomposing old branches, trees, and stumps so that the nutrients can go back into the soil to be used by plants. Termites actually have an important organism living in their stomachs. This tiny, microscopic organism, called Tricohonympha agilis, is the one who actually breaks down the wood. By themselves, the termites could not digest it. The Tricohonympha agilis gets protection and food by living in the termite's stomach. The termite has a "helper" living inside it to break down the wood so the termite can digest it. It does not harm the termite, and the termite would die without it.
Predators
Predators of the eastern subterranean termites include: ants, other termites, birds, and bats. Other insect predators, such as moles, shrews, and frogs will eat termites as well.
Although you may choose to make the inspection yourself, we recommend you have a professional pest control company that has the experience of detecting termite infestations you may otherwise overlook.
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