Of all the pests you don’t want crawling around your Northwest Arkansas property, termites are probably pretty high on your list. As dangerous as termites are to wooden structures, you’d think they’d be easier to spot, but they’re not. These quiet homebodies can infest your house for years without being detected. Below, we’ll talk a little about what termites are, how they wreak havoc on your home, and what you can do about them.
Termites – What Are They?
Termites are social insects that live in huge colonies and eat cellulose. Far from being a nuisance, most termites never come into contact with people. They’re incredibly beneficial to the environment, forming part of the foundation of local food chains and providing important waste disposal services for dead wood and other plant litter.
Because termites don’t travel far from their nests to find food, they’re never really visible except when they leave the colony to mate. Mature colonies send out winged reproductive males and females called alates. It’s the alates’ job to pair off and found satellite colonies – thus ensuring the propagation of the original colony’s genes.
When the alates swarm, this is one of the only times you’ll see termites outside of their nests – and seeing a termite swarm could very well be the first sign you see that your home has an infestation. Unfortunately, because only mature colonies send out swarmers, if you see them, your home has probably been infested for a while.
Should I Worry if I See a Termite?
When they build their nests in your home’s walls instead of a dead tree, they go from being an environmental blessing to your worst nightmare. Termites don’t just tunnel through wood to make chambers to live in; they also eat wood. A large enough colony can chomp through a pound of wood a day, making it easy to see how termites can destroy a house.
What Are The Signs of Termites in Your Home?
Signs of termite infestation have less to do with you seeing the insects and more to do with the damage they inflict on your property. Termite signs include:
Frass/Carton: the sawdust termites leave behind as they chew through wood and expel waste.
Wood damage like bucked floors, sagging ceilings, warped door and window frames, and bulging walls.
Peeling paint, decay, and other damage that looks like it was caused by water, even when there’s no water.
Kickout holes and entry holes to termite nests. These might show up as pinholes in your walls and floor or the ground around your house.
Termite Wings: alates shed their wings after mating so they can go underground or into walls. Even if you missed the swarm, the piles of wings will give you a clue it happened.
How The Professionals At Rumble Pest Solutions Can Help With Your Termite Problem
Unfortunately, termites are a tough pest for homeowners to get rid of on their own. Even if you can find the originating nest and destroy it, there’s no way to know you got all the satellite nests. You could kill only the mature colony and leave several maturing satellite colonies to grow and continue damaging your property undisturbed.
The best thing to do is call the pros. Here at Rumble Pest Solutions, we’ve got the tools and the know-how to terminate every single termite on your property, no matter how many satellite colonies are hiding out in your house. Don't hesitate! Reach out to the professionals at Rumble Pest Solutions today.