Learn More About Termites For A Successful Pest Control

The key to a successful pest control and management is knowledge on the specific type of pest you are dealing with. In this article, you’ll learn about a different type of termite, which is unlike the common termites that eat your home’s foundation. But this specific type of termites is also common in every home. You need to know all about them so you will know how to deal with them.

Introducing: dry-wood termites

What differentiates dry-wood termites from common termites is that they do not live underground. They are often found in wood sidings, wood supports in the attic, and in the roofing as well. They are also found to infest your crawlspaces specifically the ones near your attic. They are also commonly found eating the following:

Wood molding particularly your windows’ and doors’ framing
Wood siding and roofing
Eaves and overhangs
Joints and crevices all around your doors

Pest control experts say their swarming season is from September to November. And the best time for them to swarm and mate is when there has been a sudden drastic change in temperature, particularly from cold to warm or hot.

It’s often difficult to detect the presence of dry-wood termites in your house. This is probably because of their ability to build a chamber inside the wood and stay there for more than a year. They do this by excavating a tunnel inside the wood and closing it once they are inside. They will stay inside the wood for as long as necessary.

If they cannot find wood to infest, they can also suppress their hunger and stay dormant for a long period of time. They often only go out to find a source of food that they can invade. And oftentimes, they go back to the same wood they’ve infested before.

How to tell if you have dry-wood termites inside or near your home

Pest control professionals share these signs that you need to look for to tell whether or not there are dry-wood termites near or inside your home.

1. Hollow sound coming from your wooden foundation after knocking on it. This means the termites have succeeded in eating the inside of the wood.

2. Visible damages on the wood that seemed like it was carved out. And if you try to pick a hole on the wood, you can easily do so even with a blunt pocket knife or screw driver.

3. Piles of dust and debris near your walls, door and window frames, and foundations. If the dust resembles coarse sand grain, then you can be sure the pile actually consists of the termites’ fecal matter.

4. Accumulation of insect wings on your window sills. This means that termites are swarming to get inside your house or to move to another hideout inside your home.