Termites Types: Do You Know Your Termites?
Posted By on December 4, 2009
You need to know some basic facts about termites which will help you to identify them. This article will hopefully arm you with sufficient information which will enable you to identify termites in your area. Are you familiar with the three main termites types found in the United States?
Living in highly organized colonies with distinct social groups which have particular duties and functions, are dry wood, subterranean, and Formosan termites. These are the three species of termites found in the United States which despite their diversity share a common enemy — ants. All three groups of insects get their food from cellulose which is found in wood and wood products.
Subterranean termites tend to live in the soil beneath your house and then come up through a complex system of tunneling to the ground for feeding. Experts estimate that these pests account for some 95% of the damage done by termites each year which range in the neighborhood of three billion dollars a year.
Formosan termites are especially threatening to residences and forests. This is because, unlike dry wood termites which inhabit dead and dying trees and wood, these subterranean insects attack healthy trees. Experts say it may take up to two years from the time the colony establishes residency to discover this damage. That is why they are more dangerous than dry wood termites which live above the ground in dead trees and in houses and furniture made of wood and wood products. Formosan are considered late comers to the United States because they arrived after World War II on military vessels returning from duty in Asia, particularly East Asia.
It is a common misconception that termites are winged creatures. Only a certain segment of the colony actually sprout wings and fly ” what is called swarming, and these are usually referred to as alates. The purpose of the swarm is to find mates and set up new colonies.
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