Some creepy crawly invaders are more obvious than others. Everyone recognizes a cockroach when one scurries across the floor. However, some pest infestations are more subtle. Termites often do significant damage before homeowners realize they’ve been invaded. The wood-eating insects live in colonies and take up residence deep inside a home’s walls. Weymouth pest control professionals can assist homeowners in eliminating termites when and if they’re discovered in a home. Mud Tunnels Termites create little tubes through which they travel to different dining locations. The structures are brown and cylindrical. Termites create these traveling tunnels using mud, feces, and their saliva. The tubes, about the size of a pencil, can be found along exterior or interior walls where termites live or near the foundation of a home outdoors. Live Termites Homeowners are most likely to see reproductive kings or queens. Termite workers are sterile and generally remain hidden. The kings and queens are black or brown in color, winged, and about a half-inch long. Workers, on the rare occasion they’re in the open, are about a quarter-of-an-inch in length, white, and wingless. Hollow Wood If during routine maintenance, you notice wood that sounds hollow, it’s time to call the professionals. Termites eat wood from the inside out, so determining if that hollow sound is the result of termites is a job for people who can make the determination with minimum damage to walls. Wing Piles Termites mate on warm days in the spring or early summer. Their delicate reproductive dance includes an insect swarm, formed when an entire colony attempts to find a mating partner. Though the swarm happens quickly and may occur beyond the sight of watchful homeowners, the swarm leaves evidence behind. Piles of wings that resemble fish scales on the floor of a home, particularly in the basement, may be signs that a colony lives--and eats--nearby. Even with evidence that termites have snacked on wood in a home, that doesn't necessarily mean the wood-eaters are still around. Occasionally, homeowners, pest control professionals, or home inspectors find termite damage that may have happened long ago. It’s difficult for Weymouth pest control professionals to determine whether termite damage is the result of an active infestation. This is one reason it’s critical to have ongoing treatment to eliminate potential termites and to ensure they never return.
Related Articles -
Weymouth, Pest, Control,
|