Last week, I received a call from a lady in Lufkin asking what termites looked like. She had found lots of “small flying insects” around her front door and didn’t know what they were. They were identified as termites.
Later that same week, as I was leaving work and heading home, I noticed several small winged insects piled up on my windshield wipers on the front window of my truck. They were also termites.
Each spring, termite colonies can swarm. ‘Swarming’ usually occurs in the daytime and is the strategy used by these insects (as well as honey bees) to disperse and form new separate colonies.
Adult reproductive termites are dark-brown to blackish insects, about 3/8 inch-long. Commonly referred to as swarmers, the job of reproductive termites is to mate and start new colonies. Termite swarmers may or may not have wings, as their wings often are shed shortly after flight.
Swarming termites are often confused with ants but can be distinguished by two simple characteristics. Termites lack the “pinched” or narrow waist seen on ants. A termite’s body profile is shaped like a grain of rice. Ants always have some sort of pinched, narrow waist.
Also, termite wings are equal in length, compared to ants that have distinctly longer front wings. With an infested home, it is not uncommon to find insect wings inside on a window sill. Look carefully thru them to see if you can see a size difference. If they are all the same size, they belonged to termites who have likely found a place to move in and cause damage.
Although termite swarmers can, occasionally, enter homes through open doors or windows, finding termite swarmers indoors is a reliable signal of infestation. Termite swarms can occur throughout the year, but are most commonly seen between the months of February and May in Texas.
But what about the termites you find outside in your mulch or in an old stump? In Texas, termites abound in the soil wherever wood is to be found. Most yards, especially those in older, established neighborhoods, support termites. While termites are more abundant in some locations, chances are good that your yard does in fact have termites. Finding termites in a fence or woodpile, or in landscape timbers, does not necessarily mean that your home needs to be treated, but it should alert you to the presence of termites close to your home.
Should you find termites in your yard, a few simple steps can help reduce your risk of becoming infested. First, familiarize yourself with what termites look like so that if you notice swarms of any unusual indoor insects. Doing so will let you know whether your house should be inspected.
Second, examine the foundation of your home to see whether mud shelter tubes are present that might indicate termite activity. Termite shelter tubes are hollow soil tunnels extending from the soil up past the foundation to your house and provide a conduit for termites to travel between their underground nest and their food supply (your home). If you do find any suspicious mud structures, leave at least part of the material in place for a professional termite inspector to examine.
Finally, keep soil and debris, such as wood mulch or stacked firewood, away from the foundation of your home. This reduces the chance of termite entry and makes it easier to inspect your home for termite signs.
If you do suspect termites, it’s a good idea to have a professional examine your home. Because of the specialized equipment and chemicals needed to effectively and safely treat your home, it’s nearly always best to hire a professional.
These DIY treatments, commonly sold through home and garden stores, should only be considered for spot treatments on wooden structures of low value in a very limited area well away from your home. At their best, these products might be as effective as some of the professional’s weakest products.
Bottom line, if you are not at least an armature entomologist, ask for an inspection by a trained exterminator. It takes a professional to thoroughly treat a home.
