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Would You Know A Termite Swarmer If You Saw One?

Do you currently have termite protection in place for your home? This is a question you need to be able to answer with a yes. Subterranean termites can total a home. They are responsible for billions of dollars in property damage annually in the United States alone. This is not because of how quickly they do damage, but because of how silently they do the damage. Often, the only sign these wood-eating pests give is the release of termite swarmers. Here’s what you need to know.

Silent Destroyers

There is a reason termites have earned this nickname. They can travel the length of a football field, underneath the ground, to locate a source of wood to eat. If they find wood that touches the ground, they are able to tunnel straight from the soil and into the wood to feed on it from the inside, without making a sound. As you read this, you could have a wall filled with termites right next to you and not even realize it.

What Termite Swarmers Mean

When termite swarmers appear on interior or exterior walls, they are usually a warning sign of an active infestation, not an impending infestation. Termite swarms don’t last long and they don’t travel far. Most of the time, these tiny, winged insects crawl out of a hole of a structure and immediately mate and crawl into another hole within yards of where they emerged. It is vital that you recognize them if you see them.

Termite Swarmer Identification

There are two ways to detect swarmers. Since swarms don’t last long, shed wings may be the only sign you’ll get. Termite swarmers shed their wings after they mate. They may be littered on the ground or a surface next to your exterior walls. They may be on window sills or wood objects, such as railroad ties used to enclose a vegetable garden or flower bed. These wings will be shorter than a half inch, and may appear white to smokey grey, depending on the species.

Termite swarmers look a little bit like ant swarmers. The significant difference you’ll be able to notice immediately is the roundness of their wing tips. While ants and termites both have two sets of two wings, the wings of a termite swarmer stack on top of each other. They are also going to be white to smokey grey instead of tan, like the wings of an ant. The termite swarmer’s body is most likely black in color, but some species of termite can have a tan/red coloring.

We hope that you will not wait until you see termite swarmers before you get assistance from a pest control company. This is a destructive pest that can be stopped “before” it can eat away at your equity. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, reach out to the termite control experts here at Spencer Pest Services. We’re looking forward to serving you.

 
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