The Life Span of Termites

Termites can cause an incredible amount of damage to your property in a short amount of time, but you'd be surprised how many people figure they can 'fix' the problem by themselves.

They try to fumigate on their own and then a few weeks later stumble over more termites. Which means more time has been wasted and more wooden structure damaged. Why is seeking professional help necessary to fully ensure that a damaging termite infestation has been truly ended?

Because of the problems posed by the lifespan of termites and how they reproduce. You don't get the entire colony, especially the Queen termites, they might not be visible for awhile, but they'll still be there, breeding and reproducing quickly until they make their presence know again by tunneling through the wood of your house in new areas.

A termite infestation starts with the arrival of the King and Queen termites. The male fertilizes the female constantly, who will be frequently laying eggs that hatch into pale white larvae. Over several molting stages these larvae grow and are transformed into several different types of colony termites.

Workers are sexually undeveloped and are the most numerically evident. Their job is to do all the eating away at wood to construct all the tunnels and chambers that the colony needs as well as feeding and carrying for the young larvae that just hatched. The soldier caste of termites have far bigger heads than workers and their mandibles are larger, which aids them in combat with other insect species. The nymphs, or alates, are black colored and are born with two pairs of large wings. Their job is to reproduce and aid the colony in increasing in size.

A colony is adaptable in its makeup of the three types of castes that comprise it. Depending on the need of the colony, one type of termite can actually transform itself into another. That means if there is an attempt to exterminate the colony that kills most of the workers and soldiers but misses the Queen termites and the nymphs, some of the nymphs will begin changing into workers and soldiers until the new generations of freshly hatched larvae are ready to assume those roles.

You can see why this would mean an extermination effort that wasn't professional, that only got 90% of the termites, but missed the Queen and some others, would in the end be a futile effort. Here's the last reason why you need professional help to ensure a termite infestation has been completely destroyed: While the other types of termites live just a year or two, the lifespan of the termite Queen is up to fifty years if the climate conditions are optimal. That Queen can lay up to 1,000 eggs a day if conditions are right.

With these facts about the lifespan of termites in mind, it's clear the best option when faced with a termite infestation of your home is to get experienced, professional pest control help to ensure 100% of the infestation is dealt with.

Identifying Termites

How can I get rid of termites? This is one of the most popular questions that are usually raised when it comes to home improvement. Termites are a type of pestilence that everyone hates. They are very destructive and they do this in different ways. Termites love to nest and breed in moist areas, moving from one place to another. They can render useless whatever they come in to contact with. Be it windows, doors, wooden furniture or roof tops, termites are very ready to do some damage. In short, nothing escapes the wicked act of these tiny insects. However, there are various ways to deal with these insects, but you have to learn the termite identification process.

The termite identification process is a very important step to eradicate termites once and for all. Even though you want to hire professionals to help you kill termites, it is you who will identify it beforehand. Termites are composed of several groups, the soldiers, reproductive, and worker termites. They all have different appearances. The soldiers have mandibles while the reproductive have wings. However, worker ants have no wings and they are smaller than the reproductive termites. Worker termites are the most numerous and are the main wood eaters.

Worker termites are popularly called wood termites because they love living in woods. They can thrive in dead logs or branches. Wood is more like a precious commodity for termites because they have nowhere else to live, eat, and thrive.

The reproductive termites are also known as queen termites. Their main purpose is to reproduce for the termite colonies. An average termite queen will lay thousands of eggs every year and it would live for as long as thirty years. Perhaps this little knowledge about termites will help you during the process of termite identification.

Termites are different from flying ants. Although some termites have wings, there are certain differences in their physical appearance. You can see the difference between a flying ant and a termite if you look carefully. The antennae of ants are straight, while those of termites are in a beaded form. Termites have grayish white wings, while ants have transparent wings. There are other distinguishing factors between flying ants and termites.

If you are a busy person, it is important that you find a termite control company to help you identify and eliminate termites from your home. Termites can do more than damage your furniture. These termites dig holes through pieces of dry wood or furniture. When this happens, your home furniture will begin to look unattractive. A professional pest control company can use the process of fumigation to kill any insect that may be present in the home. This involves the use of chemicals, which is usually spread all over the dwelling to kill the infestation. This process of pest control must not be performed by a lay person, so call a professional fumigation or pest control company if you are finding it difficult to identify and kill termites.