Termite Behavior and Swarming

You don’t want to learn about termites the hard way – after they’ve caused significant termite damage in your home. The more termite information you can gather about termite behavior, including termite swarming, the construction of termite mounds, and other facts about these social insects, the better armed you will be against termite infestation.

As an informed homeowner, you are smart to learn some termite information before you contact a Termidor Certified termite pest control professional for a termite inspection.

Of course, you can’t pinpoint and identify every aspect of termite behavior. However, a Termidor pest control expert can. Their vast knowledge about all types of termites including termite eggs, termite nests, termite wings, and even termite tunnels will help control and eradicate your termite infestation.

For detailed termite information, including termite behavior and swarming, see below. Or to immediately determine whether or not you have a termite problem in your home, find a Termidor Certified termite control specialist near you by clicking here now!
 
First, you should know that with most of the 2,000 species of these wood destroying insects, the most appealing part of the wood is the cellulose. The typical diet consists of wood and other cellulose-containing materials, such as paper, carpets, and cloth. Termites will build termite mounds, termite tunnels and mud tubes as part of the termite structure damage they may cause in your home. The termite damage is sometimes so severe that nothing is left of a structure but a shell.

Termites have swarm intelligence, and they are most visible to homeowners when they are swarming. But even if you don’t see them swarming, they could still be causing damage to your home 365 days a year. The whole termite swarming process takes less than an hour, so it’s likely that you will not see the swarming. Termite swarming involves hundreds of thousands of termites leaving their nests to create a new termite colony.

Physically, termites have biting mouthparts and small, soft bodies rarely over 10 mm long. Termites have two pairs of long, slender termite wings, which they shed after a flight.

These wood destroying insects inhabit termite tunnels, termite mounds, and termite nests, rarely venturing out into daylight. Some termite mounds take a distinctive wedge-shaped form and can reach a height of six meters. Most termite mounds are less than two meters, tall, however.

Most termites are subtropical insects, with a few termite species living in temperate regions. There are two main types of termites that cause most of the termite structure damage – the wood termites (drywood termites) and the soil-feeding termites (subterranean termites). Drywood termites do not require the humidity that soil-feeding termites do. Instead, these wood termites attack dry wood, such as trees, fence posts, and any other dry wood containing cellulose.

Subterranean termites, or soil-feeding termites, are prevalent in the U.S. and cause $250 million of damage every year. Wood that is in contact with the ground (and close enough to be reached through termite tunnels) is particularly vulnerable to a subterranean termite attack.

The type of termite most likely to cause a termite problem in your home is the subterranean termite. Subterranean termites are social insects that build termite tunnels and termite nests in a large underground termite colony. A subterranean termite colony is made up of several different types of termites living together as castes (these include worker termites, soldier termites, and reproductives).

Members of a subterranean termite colony:

At the center of a subterranean termite colony exists the termite king and the termite queen. The termite king’s main purpose is to continuously mate with the termite queen. Size-wise, he is only slightly bigger than the other termites in the termite colony. The termite queen’s sole purpose is to reproduce – the typical termite queen lays thousands of termite eggs a year – and some termite queens live up to 30 years!

When termite eggs first hatch, they take the form of nymphs, which eventually turn into different members of the termite colony. The largest part of the termite colony is made up of worker termites. The wingless worker termites are blind and most likely to be found in termite infested wood. Soldier termites are sterile, wingless, blind termites whose sole purpose is to defend the termite colony.

Termite colonies also contain winged reproductives and supplementary reproductives. Winged reproductives use their swarm intelligence to swarm to a new location during swarm season, where they shed their wings and pair up to start a new termite colony. Supplementary reproductives serve as replacements for the termite king or termite queen should one of them die.