When you think of spring, you probably envision blooming flowers and the return of warmer weather. But in the pest control industry, spring marks the beginning of peak pest season, when most insects are coming out of their winter hiding spots, mating – and in some cases – finding their way into our homes. Unfortunately, one of the most common springtime pests is also one of biggest threats to our homes and properties – termites.
Category: Termite Control
Termites seem to come out of the woodwork every spring… but could they actually be coming in and infesting your home? Learn more about these costly pests and their life cycle.
Understanding the Termite Life Cycle
When you think of spring, you probably envision blooming flowers and the return of warmer weather. But in the pest control industry, spring marks the beginning of peak pest season, when most insects are coming out of their winter hiding spots, mating – and in some cases – finding their way into our homes. Unfortunately,
After the long, cold winter experienced across much of the country, spring can’t come soon enough for many people. Before we know it, daylight will last longer, flowers will start blooming and children will be spending more time playing outdoors. But, as the weather continues to warm, people may also start to see an unwelcome sign that spring has sprung – the presence of swarmers, or flying termites.
Termite control is not like fixing a leaky faucet. Fail to do it right and you and your home most likely will pay the price. Leave it to the professionals.
Termite swarming season will be ramping up soon as the weather starts to get warmer and the spring season approaches — with many termite species being particularly prevalent in the Southeast. In case you’ve never heard, termites are nicknamed “silent destroyers” because of their ability to chew through wood, flooring and wallpaper without any immediate signs of damage. In fact, termites cause more than $5 billion in property damage each year— costs that are typically note covered by homeowners’ insurance policies.
With summer on its way out, many homeowners may think their pest problems will wane, too. In fact, with a new season comes different pest challenges to face and another round of pest proofing to do for the home. Pests like mice, rats, cockroaches and spiders will look for shelter in warm homes as the weather grows cooler, which is why PermaTreat Pest and Termite Control encourages homeowners to integrate pest proofing into their routines for the fall season.
Each season poses different opportunities for pest invasions, yet one thing remains the same—no one wants these critters entering their homes where they present property and health threats. Fall pests can contaminate food and damage drywall and electrical wires throughout a home. Cockroaches can trigger allergies and asthma, especially in children. These pest implications are far from desirable, which is why we must combat them.”
To help homeowners battle pests all year round, including in the fall, PermaTreat recommends these pest-proofing tips for the fall season:
- Screen attic vents and openings to chimneys.
- Eliminate moisture sites, including leaking pipes and clogged drains.
- Seal cracks and crevices on the outside of the home using caulk and steel wool. Pay close attention where utility pipes enter the structure.
- Store food in airtight containers and dispose of garbage regularly in sealed receptacles.
- Replace loose mortar and weather stripping around the basement foundation and windows.
- Store firewood at least 20 feet away from the house; keep shrubbery well trimmed.
- Install door sweeps and repair damaged screens.
- Inspect items such as boxes of decorations and grocery bags before bringing them indoors.
Termites have been munching away on wood for millions of years. From the African termites that build mounds taller than men, to the subterranean species destroying people’s homes, the social termites are fascinating creatures to study. Learn more about these decomposers with the 10 cool facts about termites.
1. While they can be pests to homeowners, termites are actually beneficial insects, ecologically speaking.
Termites are actually important decomposers. Termites break down tough plant fibers, recycling dead and decaying trees into new soil. These hungry insects are vital to the health of our forests. As they tunnel, termites also aerate and improve the soil. It just so happens that we build our homes from termite food – wood.
2. Termites digest cellulose with the help of microorganisms in their guts.
Termites feed on plants directly or on fungus growing on decaying plant material. In either case, they must be able to digest tough plant fibers, or cellulose.
The termite gut is loaded with microorganisms capable of breaking down cellulose. This symbiosis benefits both the termites and the microorganisms living within their insect hosts. The termites house the bacteria and protozoa, and harvest the wood. In return, the microorganisms digest the cellulose for the termites.
3. Termites feed on each other’s feces.
Termites aren’t born with all that bacteria in their gut. Before they can start the hard work of eating trees, termites must obtain a supply of microorganisms for their digestive tracts. They engage in a practice known as trophallaxis, or, in less scientific terms, they eat each other’s poop. Termites must also resupply themselves after they molt, so poop eating is a big part of life in the termite mound.
4. Termites lived 130 million years ago, and descended from a cockroach-like ancestor.
Termites, cockroaches, and mantids all share a common ancestor in an insect that crawled the Earth about 300 million years ago. The fossil record’s earliest termite specimen dates back to the Cretaceous period. A termite holds the record for the oldest example of mutualism between organisms, too. A 100-million-year old termite with a ruptured abdomen was encased in amber, along with the protozoans that lived in its gut.
5. Termite fathers help raise their young.
You won’t find deadbeat dads in the termite mound. Unlike in bee colonies, where males are short-lived and die soon after mating, the termite kings stick around. After their nuptial flight, the termite king stays with his queen, fertilizing her eggs as needed. He also shares parental duties with the queen, helping her feed their young predigested food.
6. Termite workers and soldiers are almost always blind.
In almost all species, both the workers and soldiers in a given termite colony are blind. Since these industrious individuals spend their lives in the confines of the dark, damp nest, they have no need to develop functional eyes. Reproductive termites are the only termites that require eyesight, since they must fly to find mates and new nest sites.
7. When termite soldiers detect a threat, they tap warning signals to the colony.
Termite soldiers form the world’s tiniest heavy metal mosh pit when danger comes to the nest. To sound the alarm, soldiers bang their heads against the gallery walls to send warning vibrations throughout the colony.
8. Chemical cues guide most communication in the termite colony.
Termites use pheromones, special chemical scents, to talk to one another and control each other’s behavior. Termites leave scent trails to guide other workers using special glands on their chests. Each colony produces a distinct scent, identified by a chemical on their cuticles. In some species, the queen can even control the growth and role of her young by feeding her pheromone-laden poop.
9. New kings and queens can fly.
New reproductive termites are winged, and able to fly. These young kings and queens, called alates, leave their home colony and fly out in search of a mate, often in large swarms. Each royal pair of king and queen emerges from the swarm together and finds a new place to found their own colony. They break their wings off and settle down in their new home to raise their offspring.
10. Termites are well-groomed.
You wouldn’t think an insect that spends its time in the dirt would be so fastidious about its grooming, but termites make an effort to stay clean. Termites spend a great deal of time grooming each other. Their good hygiene is important to their survival, as it keeps parasites and harmful bacteria under control within the colony.
What attracts termites? Does mulch? Do pine cones? It’s hard to prevent a home termite infestation if you don’t know what draws them to your property.
Oftentimes, homeowners make a concerted effort to complete seasonal projects around the home to prevent pests from coming inside. However, some of these tasks may actually be doing more harm than good, especially when it comes to termites. Check out this slideshow to find out if you are attracting termites to your home.
Termites are a destructive pest that cannot be eradicated with do-it-yourself measures. In fact, termites lead to more than $5 billion in property damage each year. If you are concerned that you may have attracted a termite problem on your property, make sure you contact Permatreat Pest and Termite Control of Virginia to conduct a thorough inspection.
How to Tell the Difference Between Termites and Flying Ants
Do you know how to spot the difference between a termite and a flying ant? Watch this short video to find out!
Contact Permatreat Pest and Termite Control today for free analysis and estimate!
This is the time of year when you ‘ll see clusters of insects with wings, swarming in areas such as mulch beds, in cracks in foundations or sidewalks and even near trees.
Most often these insects are flying termites or “swarmers”! They appear and are often the first signs to homeowners that a well-established colony is near.
There are four types of termites, but the termite specific to Virginia is the subterranean termite.
Subterranean termite colonies are always connected to the soil and usually close to a moisture source.
If you notice flying termites in your yard or near your home, and you are not under a termite protection plan, contact a pest control company immediately for a free inspection.
An average colony consists of 60,000 to 250,000 termites and depending on how close they are to your home may mean that they are already in contact with your home’s foundation.
In their search for food (wood/cellulose) and moisture, termites will squeeze through cracks as narrow as 1/32 of an inch to enter your home! Expansion joints, foundation cracks, tiny gaps around plumbing, and service entries are all potential entry points. And once they’re in, undetected termites can mean untold damage.
Defense mechanisms for most termite colonies depend on castes
By DR. STUART MITCHELL
An exceedingly organized and integrated society, the termite colony (termitarium) utilizes a caste system. A termitarium divides its labor system by the structure, function, and behavior of colonial members. Reproductives, workers, and soldiers are the primary castes. Reproductives are referred to as primary and secondary (or supplementary). Workers and soldiers are perpetually at work and at war!
As the prevalent number of individuals within the colony, workers are generally whitish in color, soft-bodied, and possess hardened mandibles and mouthparts highly functional for chewing. Workers are laborious, forage and gather food, feed and groom colonial members, and both construct and maintain the nest. Directly responsible for the potentially significant destruction termites can cause is the cryptic worker caste. A true worker caste is absent within some primitive termite families. Pseudo-workers or pseudergates (which may molt without changes in size) are immature individuals that carry out tasks in primitive termite families.
Most termite species have both worker and soldier castes. Wingless and generally lacking eyes, workers and soldiers are the sterile castes. Lacking fully developed reproductive organs; workers and soldiers can be either male or female. Dimorphic (two sizes) in some species, the larger individuals are named major workers or soldiers and the smaller minor workers or soldiers. Trimorphic soldiers exist in a few termite species.
For the soldier caste the main function is defense. Blind, most termite soldiers locate enemies through both tactile and chemical cues. Typically, the termite soldier has a pronounced, dark, and hard head with powerful mandibles which may be hooked and contain teeth. Soldiers’ head and mandibles allow for defense of the colony against predators, such as ants.
When attacking, soldiers perform rapid lunging movements while opening and closing mandibles in a scissor-like action. Any predator foe may be lacerated, beheaded, and/or dismembered. In Capritermes, the soldiers’ mandibles are asymmetrical and snapping. The right mandible blade-like and the left mandible twisted and arched. Producing a loud click during defensive events, the mandibles lock together and release (like fingers snapping). Cryptotermes soldiers use their short and truncated heads (phragmotic) to obstruct the termitarium entrance holes.
With chemical mechanisms of sticky, toxic liquids secreted by either the salivary or frontal glands, Termitidae (higher forms of termites) may enhance or replace mandibular defenses. Entangling enemies, whitish or brownish liquids become rubberlike after exposure to air. In Coptotermes and Rhinotermes the frontal gland occupies a vast portion of the abdominal cavity; opening by means of a frontal pore (fontanelle) via which liquid is secreted. In Rhinotermes the minor soldier secretes a liquid from the frontal pore that flows down a groove within the elongated labrum to a hairy tip. There it volatilizes into a repellent gas.
In Nasutitermitinae, soldiers’ mandibles are reduced in size and non-functional with reliance upon chemical defenses. With an elongated head shaping into a long snout (nasus), the frontal gland, which occupies a major portion of the head, opens at the end of the snout. Over several centimeters, and with good accuracy, Nasute soldiers can eject a clear, sticky, resinous liquid at predators. In a few termite Genera a soldier caste is lacking and the mechanisms for defense in these groups are not well understood.
Whether termite workers at work or termite soldiers at war, pest management professionals are vigilantly on the front lines battling termite infestations to protect structures and properties.
Termites damage wood slowly and most often there will be no visible indication that the home is infested. Termite infestations can go undetected for years hidden behind walls, floor coverings, insulation, and other obstructions. Termite feeding and damage can even progress undetected in wood that is exposed because the outer surface is usually left intact.
Confirmation of infestation often requires an experienced termite inspector. However, even the most experienced inspector can overlook infestation or damage which is hidden.
Termite treatment may fail at times when termites find their way through tiny untreated gaps in the soil. While the intent is to establish a continuous, impenetrable chemical barrier, this is difficult in actual practice. In the case of baits, it may take several months for termites to initially find the bait stations and several months more to achieve control.
The key is to hire a reputable pest control firm that will retreat infested area(s) at no additional charge provided the service agreement is maintained annually.
All liquid termiticides are designed to control termites for at least five to ten years when applied according to label directions. The actual length of control on a given structure will depend on such factors as thoroughness of the application, environmental conditions, and density of termites in the area. If termites swarm again and continue to be a problem the year after treatment, it's usually not from degradation of the termiticide — but because termites have found an untreated gap in the chemical barrier.
Subterranean termite colonies can contain hundreds of thousands of individuals, foraging in many different directions. For the homeowner, localized or "spot" treatments should only be considered in cases of retreatments. Spot treatments are not recommended and are not warrantied, since it's likely that termites will eventually find other points of entry into the structure.
Consider having your home treated for termites and placed under a warranty and annual protection plan. Whether it's a preventative or curative treatment, you've just taken the first step in protecting your biggest investment… your home.
Keeping termites under control can be a difficult task. Many people hire a pest control company to get the problem fixed. Pest control companies usually offer localized or “spot” treatments and some companies even offer perimeter treatments. Localized treatments are generally a gamble except in cases of retreatment. Most reputable pest control firms will not warranty spot treatments, since it's likely that termites will eventually find other points of entry into the structure. Typically a perimeter treatment will involve a thorough application around the entire outside foundation wall of the building, and spot-treating any infested or high-risk interior areas. If the homeowner is considering such a treatment, they should inquire whether it will be accompanied by a service agreement incase termites return. (Service renewal agreements usually state that if termites return, the company will return and retreat the affected areas at no additional charge provided the renewal agreement is maintained.) It's a bit of a gamble to purchase any termite treatment option without an ongoing service agreement. The best treatments performed by knowledgeable firms may fail at times, when termites find their way through tiny, untreated gaps in the soil. While the intent is to establish a continuous, impenetrable chemical barrier, this is all but impossible to achieve in actual practice. In the case of baits, it may take several months for termites to initially find the below-ground installations and several months more to achieve control.
The key is to hire a reputable pest control firm employing experienced, conscientious technicians. Companies will return and retreat affected area(s) at no additional charge provided the service agreement is purchased and maintained. All liquid termiticides are supposed to control termites for at least five years when applied according to label directions. The actual length of control on a given structure will depend on such factors as thoroughness of the application, environmental conditions, and density of termites in the area. If a treated are is flooded, does that mean the termite protection is gone? Most termiticides can tolerate short periods of wetness but swift moving water and flooding may mean retreatment is necessary for continued termite protection. Flooding from heavy rains can wash away treated soil or dump silt and mud on top of termite bait stations. Repairs and new landscaping after storms can also disturb termite barriers, requiring retreatment. The National Pest Management Association says retreatment should be considered when the following conditions exist after a hurricane, storms, or heavy rains:
Soil erosion next to the foundation has removed termiticide-treated soil or termite bait stations.
Soil, silt, sand, or other material has been deposited on top of termite-treated areas or on top of bait stations.
Repairs to the structure have resulted in movement of treated soil or replacement of treated wood.
Treated soil or bait stations have been disturbed during removal or replacement of damaged landscaping.
There has been movement of foundation walls, patios, porches, or other structural elements as a result of the storm.It is very important to renew your termite warranty because of the following information above. The thoroughness of the application, environmental conditions, and density of termites in the area are all things that will decrease the length of the liquid termiticide. Because the liquid termiticide only controls termites for up to 5 years; you need the problem to be retreated. That’s why taking the initiative to renew your warranty is such an important task.
PermaTreat Pest and Termite Control
Are pests invading your home? Call PermaTreat now at 866-737-6287 for a home inspection today!
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