Termite Control: Termite Identification

Termites can feast on your home for quite a while before you see any visible damage. Here are some warning signs to watch for:

• Mud tubes on foundation walls, exterior walls, wood beams or in crawl spaces
• Cracked or bubbling paint
• Wood that sounds hollow when tapped
• A temporary swarm of winged insects in your home or from the soil around your home
• Discarded wings from swarmers

Termites are a major concern for homeowners in the Southeast and especially in South Carolina. Wood structures are at high risk, but don’t think they’re the only ones. Termites are capable of navigating through plaster, metal siding and other materials to feed on cabinets, floors, ceilings and wooden furniture inside your home. Remember:

• Termites follow tree roots, construction conduits, pipes and footers to gain access to your home or business.
• Termites need a crack no bigger than 1/32 of an inch to enter a building.
• Remove soil that builds up around the perimeter of your home.
• Point sprinkler heads away from your home.
• Make sure you have proper water drainage away from your home.
• Don’t allow untreated wood to come in contact with the soil around your home.
• Don’t confuse water damage and termite damage, which can look similar. The best way to tell the difference is that termites bring bits of dirt up into the wood.

Eastern & Southeastern Subterranean Termites

The Eastern and Southeastern Subterranean termites are the most common and destructive termite species in South Carolina. While they serve an important function in the environment by recycling trees & other wood products and returning nutrients to the soil, the problem is your home is constructed of termites' favorite food: dead trees and other wood byproducts.

Fortunately these pests cannot survive crawling across the ground like an ant because their bodies will dry out. Subterranean live in underground colonies or moist areas above ground and must have contact with the soil to survive. They build shelter tubes for protection and to maintain their moist environment. The key to preventing an infestation of these termites is to find their shelter tubes as part of a regular inspection program.

Formosan or Super Termite

The Formosan termite is an imported species typically found in South Carolina coastal towns such as Fripp Island, Isle of Palms and Surfside. It earned its nickname, the “super” termite, because of the size of its colonies and the speed at which it can consume wood.

Above-ground infestations of Formosans are more common than other termite species. Formosans’ colonies are also larger than our native subterranean termites, with a single colony containing several million very destructive individuals. Formosan queens have a life span of 15 years and are capable of producing up to 2,000 eggs per day. These hearty creatures feed mostly on wood and other cellulose-containing items, often infesting boats, high-rise condominiums and any other structure that contains wood.

Mature Formosan colonies can consume up to 13 ounces of wood per day, compared to four ounces per day for subterranean species. Believe it or not, they’ve also been known to chew plaster, asphalt, vinyl, linoleum and underground cables.

Formosan termite coverage can be added to any Clark’s termite protection plan.

Drywood Termites

There are three different major types of drywood termite, but they are not typically a common threat to homes. Drywood termites are usually brought into the home on furniture and other wood products. While drywood termites will occasionally damage window sills or pieces of furniture, they do not make ground contact like subterranean termites and will not have any mud or dirt present in the damage.