The main pest that is a real pain for homeowners happens to be the termite. Termite damage is not only costly, but it can also be deadly to your home. In today’s world, termite protection has become a vital part of the foundation and structure of a house. Therefore, termite control is not only an essential element for occupants, but also to protect the structure of any home. Consequently, it is essential to know how to identify termites and determine the severity of your infestation.
This blog post will give you some interesting facts about these pesky critters so that you can better protect your home from them!
Facts About Termite
• Termites Play an Important Role in the Circle of Life
A species of termites have the potential to cause severe structural damage if they are not appropriately managed. Homeowners, business owners, and pest control professionals must understand how these tiny creatures play an essential role in the circle of life. In addition, there are several misconceptions about termites that have been circulating for years.
Termites have been around since before time began, acting as a vital part in maintaining an ecosystem by recycling old matter so it can continue being broken down for new growth or used elsewhere within your body’s structure. They also add organic material back into our planet’s food chain with their wastes which help improve overall plant health.
• Most Termites Are Blind
Termites can see, but they don’t have eyes. Instead, termites use their antennae to sense light and movement. Most termites have compound eyes, which are made up of many lenses. As a result, termite vision is not good, but it is enough to tell light from dark and movement from stillness.
Termites live in the dark, damp places where they feed on wood and other plant materials. Ants need light to see, but termites don’t mind living in the dark. So instead of eating plants that make their food by photosynthesis (like ants), termites eat plants that have already been eaten or killed by other animals and then digested by bacteria. Thus, the termites get their food second-hand.
• Termites Eat Feces
Termites eat feces to get protein and other nutrients they need to live. They use an enzyme in their gut to break down the fecal matter, making it more nutritious for them than the wood on which it is found. Termites typically consume feces that has already been partially broken down by microbes such as bacteria and protozoa.
• Termites Warn Each Other of Impending Threats
Termites generate low-frequency vibrations when seeking food or when under attack. The insects use their antennae to pick up low-frequency noises and share alarm messages across the entire colony.
The messages are picked up by all of the insects in the colony, who then take defensive action such as standing on soldiers’ legs to avoid being crushed and blocking tunnels to limit damage from fire.
By emitting the warnings, termites can coordinate themselves into an effective fighting force.
• Termites Communicate via Pheromones
A pheromone is a chemical or blend of chemicals that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Alarm pheromones, for instance, are released when danger is near, resulting in a flight or fight reaction in nearby animals. Likewise, a termite queen uses pheromones to send chemical messages that affect the behavior of her nestmates.
These pheromones are responsible for the formation of new colonies. For example, when a queen and king termite leave their home nest to start their territory, they carry some of the original colony’s pheromones. These chemical messengers guide worker termites as they build a new nest around their royal family. The pheromones also protect the new territory from invading termites.
Moreover, these social insects use pheromones to distinguish friend from foe and cooperator from competitor. If a worker is successful in its search for food – the discovery of a big pile of wood – it uses pheromones to call other workers to the feast.
• Microorganisms Help Termites Digest Food
A protective, outer shell surrounds the termite gut. It’s in this shell that specialized cells digest wood fiber for the termite. Once the fiber has been digested, it’s passed on to other parts of the termite, where nutrient absorption occurs. In this way, the termite relies on symbiotic protozoa, bacteria, and other microorganisms to do the crucial work of digestion.
Termites are social insects that live in nests consisting of millions of individuals. Their main source of energy is wood fiber, which they obtain from dead logs or wood structures. Most of this wood fiber cannot be digested by termites on their own; instead, they rely on symbiotic microorganisms that live in their hindgut to digest the fiber. In this way, the termite obtains nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable to it.
Termite Inspections & Treatments
Termites live in wood and feed on the cellulose and lignin that it contains. Not all termites can eat dead objects like drywall, plaster, and cement. Termites are considered to be pests because they cause thousands of dollars worth of structural damage each year. You can hire professionals to inspect your home or workplace for evidence of termite infestations. Once an infestation has been found, the professional will recommend a treatment plan specifically suited to your needs and property type.
Over the long term, the best way to prevent termite damage is to ensure that your property and structure are protected and maintained. Prevention involves identifying and removing or repairing conditions that make a home or infested building more likely to attack subterranean termites. However, even the most vigilant homeowner will occasionally find evidence of an infestation in their property.
Professional pest control experts can often find signs of termite infestation on the exterior of a building by looking for loose or crumbling mud tubes (gallery walls, see below). However, if you live in an area with termites and you wish to look for yourself, here are some signs that may indicate a termite infestation:
- Sunken, cracked, or bubbled wood
- Sagging floors or doors that don’t close properly
- Tubes/tunnels on walls or other objects in the home.
- These are made out of dirt and saliva and may have grains of sand stuck to them. The tubes allow termites to travel around the structure without digging through the soil. Termite tubes are usually made from a mix of termite saliva and soil.