Termites Information
The bane of furniture, decks, doghouses, and seemingly everything else wooden under the sun, termites have been destroying the integrity of these structures since humans started making them. While the oldest definitive fossil comes from the Triassic Period, sometime between 66 and 145 million years ago, scientists believe their existence may go back as far as 251 million years.
They have been called white ants, but this is a misleading nickname; they are more closely related to cockroaches. Regardless of their related pests, termites, are never a welcome guest in anyone’s home. Once an infestation starts, you’re going to need help fast; queens who can live for 30 years lay an average of 30,000 eggs in a single day, and the workers never sleep.
It may seem impossible to avoid having your wooden property damaged by these hungry nightmares from homes to commercial buildings and active construction sites. There are about 2,800 species on the planet, although we just need to worry about a select few. The subterranean also called the ground termite, is by far the most common of the lot when interacting with our structures. It is estimated that they cause up to 95% of termite damage, a number that is even crazier when you consider that they do billions of dollars’ worth of damage per year.
They get their name from their underground colonies, which can have up to a million members. One of these huge extended insect families can consume up to 15 pounds of wood in a week. It’s no surprise that they can eat through support beams, railings, garage doors, and other cellulose-based items. And not only that, but they can chew through plastic pipes, rubber, concrete, and other materials to get to a food source.
If you live in an older home, you may need to be on the lookout for drywood and dampwood termites. These two prefer to make their homes and meals out of dry and damp, decaying wood. While not as prolific as their underground cousins, these white-colored mini-monsters can cause just as large of a headache. Drywood love to chew up attic structures, doors, and window frames, and the dampwood can happily invade homes with even a small plumbing issue, as the water will soften the wood up to their liking quickly.
Most termites have gestation periods of just one to two weeks, which means that once they invade, chances are you’ll have a full-scale invasion on your hands by the time they are noticed. If wooden structures around the framing of your building haven’t been specially treated, they are prone to attack when these harbingers of destruction are about. Luckily for the residents of Tucson, Phoenix, and the rest of southern Arizona, 520 Termite & Pest Solutions are here for you. We’ve got experts on hand who are ready to tackle your pest control needs. From termites and ants to spiders and roaches, we want to help make your home creepy-crawly-free and out of the danger zone. Contact us today for a free estimate.