How do you identify a subterranean termite?
5 Signs That Your Home Is Infested With Subterranean Termites
- Presence of Swarms or Their Discarded Wings. This sign is the easiest to spot.
- Strange Wall Sounds.
- Hollow or Papery Wood.
- Mud Tubes and Galleries.
- Hard-to-Open Windows and Doors.
- How to Prevent Subterranean Termites Infestation.
How do I know if my termites are Swarmers?
Carefully pick one up and look at under a magnifying glass. Look for the most common sign – the color. Subterranean termite swarmers are solid black, drywood swarmers are solid red, while carpenter ants are usually red and black or dark brown. The other big difference is in the body.
What do termite droppings look like on wood?
And when foraging through wood, they create tiny kick out holes where they discard their excrement, which can cause small piles of wood pellets on the floor. These termite droppings, which are also called “frass,” are often described as looking like sawdust.
What kind of termite has black wings and red body?
The Formosan species of the subterranean termites is however different from the rest in that its body is yellow-brown. The drywood termites have black wings and red bodies. The color of the wings and its unique red body makes it easy to identify the drywood termites on dead trees, structural timbers or on hardwood floors.
What do termites look like in a crack?
The winged males and females mate and create new colonies in a crack or other opening in wood. In addition to the presence of swarmers, piles of fecal material known as “frass” are another sign of a drywood termite invasion. When in a pile, frass can look like sawdust or sand and is frequently found near windowsills and doors.
How big can a termite get if left unchecked?
If subterranean termites are left unchecked, they have the ability to cause significant structural damage to a building, even causing a total collapse in some cases. Formosan termites are similar in color to subterranean termites but can grow to 1/2 an inch long.