Termites are fascinating, but that doesn't mean you want them eating your house. What can you do to protect your home from termites? Good question. Let's talk about it.
There are more than 3,100 species of termites globally, and they perform a critical ecological function - breaking down dead wood. They can do this because their guts are host to a variety of microorganisms that break the cellulose in wood down into simple sugars the termites can digest. Emerging evidence indicates that termites can also produce their own enzymes for breaking down cellulose.
When Are Termites Active?
In the spring and summer, you may see swarms of termites. When reproductive males and females - known as alates - reach maturity, they leave their colony in swarms that can consist of thousands of individuals. Depending on the wind, they'll travel a few hundred yards before landing and shedding their wings. Males then seek out females, and the couple searches for shelter. Once settled, they become the king and queen of the new colony and begin producing offspring.
In the eastern United States, the most common species is the eastern subterranean termite (Reticulitermes flavipes). A queen flavipes will lay a few dozen eggs in the first year after mating, gradually increasing her reproductive output as the colony grows. These eggs will primarily hatch into workers, with one or two soldiers to protect the colony. The symbiotic microorganisms in their gut - protozoa, bacteria and archaea - are passed from one generation to the next via food sharing and fecal material, with juvenile termites feeding on the microorganism-rich feces of other termites.
The worker termites seek out dead wood - whether it's a fallen tree or the side of your house - which will serve as a source of both food and shelter.
Why Is It Hard to Detect Termites?
Unlike mound-building termites, flavipes tunnel underground and through wood as their colonies expand. As a result, many homeowners are unaware they are playing host to termites until they see a swarm of young kings and queens flying out of their house.
The slightly scary news is that it takes years before a colony has grown to the point where it begins producing a new generation of winged kings and queens. By that time, the colony may consist of hundreds of thousands of workers.
The much better news is that the whole colony is almost certainly not living in your house. Workers will forage for tens of meters away from the "royal nest" where the king and queen are housed (though the king and queen are willing and able to relocate).
Termites differ from other social insects, like ants, bees and wasps, in two ways. First, the kings don't die after mating, unlike male ants, bees and wasps. Instead, a king stays with the queen to continue fertilizing her. Second, worker and soldier termites can be male or female, whereas those roles are filled exclusively by females in other social insects.
King and queen termites can also be replaced by "secondary reproductives." When a king or queen dies, workers can develop into reproductive males or females without going through the winged stage. Similarly, immature nymphs can also become secondary reproductives without going through the winged stage. So, in theory, a termite colony can go on forever, or at least until they become too inbred to be genetically viable.
How Can I Protect My Home From Termites?
I can hear you thinking: "While that is fascinating, what I really want to know is how to protect my house."
There are a handful of things you can do to protect your home:
- Don't have wooden parts of your house in direct contact with the soil (termites love that).
- Fix leaky pipes and roofs, because termites also love moist wood.
- Don't store firewood or wood debris right next to your house.
- Don't pile too much mulch right next to your house (mulch is basically moist wood).
That said, conventional wisdom holds that there are two types of houses in North Carolina: those that have termites, and those that will have termites. But don't panic. There are effective means of dealing with termites.
Also, don't panic if you see a swarm of termites in your yard. They are a natural part of the environment. A study in North Carolina found the average real estate property in the region is home to 10 termite colonies. So you're probably surrounded by termites already, and just didn't know it.
Note: Many thanks to Aram Mikaelyan, assistant professor of entomology at NC State, for taking the time to talk to me about termites. Any errors in the above post are mine alone.
