Termites

Question: Are termites active only in the spring when I see them swarm?

Answer: No. Termites are active 24 hours a day and 7 days a week all year long.

For years pest management professionals recommended corrective termite treatments when a swarm was observed. In fact, the swarm was usually the only indication that you had a termite problem. Termites are very secretive. They do not expose themselves. Their behavior is such that they must stay hidden to survive. Termites have had over 250,000,000 years to become experts at being very hard to detect and they are very, very good at it.

Termite Swarmer

Other than performing a visual inspection of exposed and accessible wooden structural members of your home, the swarm was the only sure way to know that termites were active in and/or around your home. Recently, something unusual appears to be happening in termite behavior. Termites seem to be changing their behavior in such a way that they are becoming even more difficult to identify. Their classic swarming behavior which had been relied upon as a sure indication of termite activity is changing. That is to say that the termites may have found another way to reproduce making swarming less and less likely. Termite swarming is one way that male and female termites mate and begin a new colony insuring the survival of the species. Classic swarming involves the creation of males, kings and females, queens. When they are ready, the workers force these winged males and females out into the world to find each other and mate. Often, 1,000’s of winged kings and queens emerge out of the ground, fly short distances, drop to the ground, find each other and run-off to mate and begin a new colony.

The problem is that the termites are not only swarming in less numbers but apparently many colonies are not even swarming! What’s going on? A possible explanation is that the termites are somehow swarming underground. This is not likely; at least not in the true sense of swarming as we have come to know and understand it. Somehow, the colony is producing reproductive members without wings and they are satisfying the biological urge for a colony to reproduce.

If this is true, it would be quite amazing because this type of huge behavioral shift usually takes years to occur. Species usually do not undergo significant behavioral changes over night! It takes generations to cause significant genetic mutations even though mutations occur spontaneously.

What This Means for the Home Owner?

Relying on termite swarms to decide to take corrective actions may not be the prudent thing to do. Just because you don’t “see” a swarm doesn’t mean you are termite free. More now than ever before the home owner must be proactive. Yearly termite inspections may be the way to go. However, the home owner must understand that even with a visual inspection of accessible areas in a structure, the termites still may go unseen. So what do we do? There are several options as I see it. Install a termite monitoring system around the structure. The Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System is the system of choice (see new termite treatment below). The next option is to do nothing and wait till you see a swarm or until you discover damage. The home owner should consider a yearly inspection by Arrow.

Question: Sometimes down south I see houses that are tented to treat for termites. Do they do that here in New York?

Answer: No. In the south they have a different kind of termites, drywood termites, that are treated by tenting since they actually live in the house. Here in the Northeast we have eastern subterranean termites. Since they live underground, tenting would have no effect on them. We treat our termites in other ways, including chemicals and bait.

Question: How do I tell flying ants from termites?

Answer: (See images below.) Many ways. Termites drop their wings to mate and then try to return to the ground. If you miss the swarm itself, you will find lots and lots of wings on a windowsill or near another heat or light source. The wings are the size and shape of rice. They are white-opaque and not visible veined. Ants do not usually drop their wings. In addition, termites have straight antennae while ants’ antenae are elbowed. Lastly, termite wings are all the same length while ants have long and short wings.

Question: What is the new termite treatment I’ve heard of where you use bait?

Answer: It’s called *Sentricon ™. This state of the art technology, the *Sentricon™ Colony Elimination System, will protect your building from termite invasion. Each *Sentricon™ station placed in the soil around your home acts as a monitoring device that will alert your Arrow technician to the presence of termites during their monthly service checks. These same stations are designed to deliver a special bait that the termites themselves pass from one to the other, causing the colony’s total elimination. *Sentricon’s™ monitoring and baiting system is the least intrusive method of termite control and offers you the most affordable and continuous protection from termite damage.

Question: How is the *Sentricon Colony Elimination System ™ different from conventional termite treatment?

Answer:

• The new *Sentricon ™ Colony Elimination System is a solid bait compared to traditional liquid termiticides. That means that there is no potential for odor or liquid seepage into places you never wanted.
• *Sentricon ™ is placed into the ground outside the building as compared to liquids that are pumped into the ground (next to foundation walls). Therefore, with *Sentricon ™, hoses are not dragged through the home and holes are not drilled through ceramic, or other tiles, in basement and slab areas of homes.
• Conventional liquid termiticides create a barrier around the home while *Sentricon ™ promises “total colony elimination.”

Authorized Operator for *Sentricon™ Colony Elimination System

Question: When I have a termite problem does that mean that termites are living in my home?

Answer: No. Termites live in the soil under and around the building. They travel to and from the wooden portions of the structure (on which they feed) through mud tunnels they build (see worker termite below). That way they can get to the food source they require without leaving the moisture (which they also require) of the soil. Termite tunnels or shelter tubes can often be seen on foundation walls, structural timbers in basements, crawl spaces or in garages. Sometimes probing is required to find termite evidence.

Question: Do termites really do damage?

Answer: Yes, but it usually takes time. Each year termites are responsible for more damage to homes than fire and floods combined.

Contact us today! We look forward to helping you with any of your residential or commercial pest control needs.

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