Order: Isoptera

Family: Various

 

For home owners across the country, the termite may be the most feared structure infesting insect. Unlike the Carpenter Ant who excavates wood material to create nesting sites, the termite actually eats and digests cellulose from the wood material.

 

Description: Full-grown workers are wingless, blind and creamy white. "Soldier" termites are the sterile protectors of the colony and carry no other function. They are also creamy white, soft-bodied, wingless and blind. The head is enormously elongated, hard, and equipped with two jaws. Because of their enlarged head, they must be fed by the "workers" of the colony. Termite colonies generally put off two swarms of winged reproductives each year in the spring and fall. These reproductives have two sets of wings that (unlike winged reproductive ants) are of equal length.

 

Biology: Subterranean termites are ground-inhabiting, social insects. A colony of subterranean termites may be up to 20 feet below the soil surface. These deep earthen colonies protect the termites from extreme weather conditions. Termites travel through mud tubes to reach food sources about the soil surface. The mature termite colony has three cases: reproductives, soldiers and workers. The colony reaches its maximum size in approximately four to five years and may include from 60,000 to 200,000 workers. New colonies are formed when winged males and females from a parent colony emerge in flight or swarm.

 

Habits: Subterranean termites feed exclusively on wood and wood products containing cellulose. Although termites are soft-bodied insects, their hard, saw-toothed jaws are able to bite off small fragments of wood-one piece at a time. Termites often infest buildings and damage lumber, wood panels, flooring, dry-wall, wallpaper, plastics, paper products and fabric made of plant fibers. The most serious damage is the loss of structural integrity. Other costly losses include attacks on flooring, carpeting, art work, books, clothing, furniture, and valuable papers. Subterranean termites do not attack live trees.