Collin County’s Complete Guide To Effective Termite Control
Property owners often speak about termites in hushed tones. They are a nebulous threat that can destroy a home without warning or a malicious presence going undetected, slowly causing thousands in damage and reducing the value of your property. In fact, termites are complex organisms with distinct species that have their own unique habits, habitats, and colonies.
The differences between them can make the difference in identifying them before it’s too late. Keep reading for more on subterranean termites and the kind of damage they can cause as well as how to get rid of them with pest control in Collin County.
The Life Cycle of Subterranean Termites
Subterranean termites form a fairly complex society made up of a caste system that gives every termite a role. As an efficient society, they can grow and mature to massive numbers that cause exponential damage both inside and outside of your home. How they get to this point is a bit of a process.
In each colony, there is a king and queen responsible for reproduction. The workers provide their food, so their sole function is to fill the colony. Soldier termites are in charge of protecting the workers and reproductive termites. A mature queen lays thousands of eggs over a year and can live for up to 25 years. Even if this is the only colony present in the household, you can begin to guess how quickly damage develops.
Over two weeks, the termite eggs incubate. The workers tend to the eggs until they hatch into nymphs. These nymphs feed like baby birds on regurgitated food from the workers until they molt. Depending on the needs of the colony, the nymphs can develop into workers, soldiers, or reproductives called alates.
The alates are not active reproductives; they are essentially back-ups who can break off to form new colonies or can take the place of the king or queen in their time of need. Because of this efficient system, not only can a colony live on indefinitely (as long as there is food available), but they can become an exponentially bigger problem in a short amount of time.
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The Extent of Damage Termites Can Create
Subterranean termites can reproduce quickly and form massive colonies. They are capable of causing much more damage than drywood termites in a shorter amount of time. A small colony of 60,000 individuals is capable of chewing through over 2 feet of a 2x4 in one year. Over time, this amount of damage can cause structural instability, especially if they’ve infiltrated your basement and are eating away at timbers and beams that are important to the stability of your home.
When looking for signs of termites, you’ll want to start at areas that come in contact with or are near the soil. Indoors, focus your attention on crawlspaces and basements. In these areas, evidence of termite damage might include:
- Darkening, discolored wood or peeling, discolored paint
- Soft, rotting wood that splinters when prodded
- Wood that sounds hollow
- Mud tubes that reach from the soil to exposed wood
- Feces near holes in the wood that looks like sawdust
- Discarded wings near holes in the wood, on windowsills, and near doors
This kind of damage can cost an individual family an average of around $3,000. In the US alone, termites cause over 5 billion dollars worth of damage that isn’t covered by homeowners insurance. Many people don’t have $3,000 to repair their homes, so this is a significant issue for homeowners.
