Your home usually is your
largest monetary investment. Protecting it from wood-destroying
organisms such as termites is often a prime concern. Effective
termite control requires experience, knowledge of termite
habits, proper equipment, and effective pest management
technology. Therefore, rather than attempting "do-it-yourself"
termite control, it is advisable to choose a professional
pest management company.
Advance termite
treatment available from
Pestech®
click on link below:
SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE (Reticulitermes)
Kollar
Biology
Swarmers are about 3/8 inch
in length, including the length of wings.
The body is dark brown to black
in color.
A frontal gland pore (fontanelle)
is present.
Wings have 2 visible veins,
dark in color.
Wings are primarily translucent
to a smoky color.
The soldiers head is a rectangular
shape.
Soldiers length is usually 1.5
times its width.
Distribution/Habits
Most common and widely distributed
termites in North America.
These termites eat mostly spring
wood.
The damaged wood looks layered
and soil is found in the galleries.
Colonies are located in the
ground, but if a water source is available,
a colony can exist above ground with no ground
contact.
A typical colony contains 60,000
to 1 million workers.
Swarming occurs during the morning,
usually after a rain.
Mud tubes bridge the gap between
the colony and above ground food sources.
Click play above to watch
a short video of termites in action
Sometimes
ants are confused with termites. They can look similar
to the untrained eye. Most people are unaware that
reproductive ants can and do have wings adding to
the confusion. See the drawings below for the major
physical differences between ants and termites.
Termites
are social insects with several types of individuals
in a colony, each type serving the colony in a different
way. Winged reproductive forms swarm from mature
colonies to disperse and establish new colonies.
Worker termites, the ones that damage wood by eating
the springwood layers, are white and soft-bodied;
they feed the other forms in the colony and expand
the nest size. Soldier termites with enlarged mandibles
(teeth) are responsible for protecting the colony
from intruders.
Termites
need wood for food and soil for moisture. Wood in
contact with soil, then, is ideal for termite development.
But if this does not occur, the insects may build
"shelter tubes" from mud to bridge or span foundation
walls and other masonry that separate wood from
soil. They construct these tubes on the walls or
inside them in voids and cracks.
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