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Termites
This category is for questions and answers about termites. Termites are colony insects. They eat dead plant material, including wood. They are very important within the ecosystem, but they can be a detriment to human housing.
532 Questions
no, the oil and resin in cedar is poisonous and repellent to all known species of termites
Actually they can and do eat cedar...it is not a prefered food source. When I have found termites in cedar they have been exterior issues, such as furniture or fencing that had wood to ground contact. and usually exposed to the elements for several years.
What is a Subterranean termites?
Kings and Queens swarm during mating season to establish new colonies
Can your handyman use orange oil for termites?
DRYWOOD TERMITE CONTROL Orange Oil or Sulfuryl Flouride Richard Fagerlund, Columnist Ask The Bugman Drywood termites are a major wood destroying insect that cost consumers many millions of dollars in damage and control. One estimate suggested Californians spend $250 million dollars a year on this insect. For many years the primary method of controlling drywood termites was to use sulfuryl fluoride (Vikane) as a fumigant. The house had to be wrapped and sealed and the gas injected. It was and still is a major inconvenience for homeowners as they had to do a lot to prepare for the fumigation as well as stay out of the house overnight. It was thought that once the house was cleared that the fumigant would dissipate harmlessly into the atmosphere. A recent study by the U. of C at Irvine has destroyed that myth. It turns out that sulfuryl fluoride is a major greenhouse gas that can last about 30 years in the atmosphere and may last up to 100 years (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090121144059.htm). More on this later. Also homes and commercial buildings are built differently now then when sulfuryl fluoride was in its prime. They are more energy efficient which may prohibit the movement of the gas in the building which will allow some termites to survive. There have been other methods of control tried but most only allow spot treatments. Microwaves, heat, cold and electro guns are a few. Heat has actually progressed to where it is considered sufficient to control termites in the entire house. There is a lot of preparation needed for heat treatment and the time and labor cost is reflected in your bill for the treatment. It takes six to eight hours to heat a piece of wood internally to 125° Fahrenheit. In addition, the pretreatment preparation required of the homeowner is extensive and, if not completed properly, heat can be extremely damaging to property, such as plastics, electronics, and many other items. and there was at least one instance of a house exploding because of the heat and propane gas. I can't recommend this treatment. Approximately ten years ago orange oil became a player in the termite control game and a very good player indeed. While there are several kinds of orange oil available to the pest control professional, one brand, XT-2000 stands out. It is the only orange oil formulation that can be used to treat entire homes. The others are only good for spot treatments. Orange oil is unique in that the capillary action of the product works in many ways like fumigation, but without the same risks! XT-2000 Orange Oil moves through wood like a gas, along the path of least resistance, filling up the treated piece of wood until the termites have no place to hide. Unlike fumigation, XT-2000 Orange Oil treatments are specifically targeted to the area of infestation, so you do not need to move out of your home during the treatment. Because of sophisticated optical equipment such as the borescope, inspectors have the ability to located otherwise hidden termite problems and treat them. Since orange oil has come on the scene, over 500,000 buildings have been treated. This includes homes, churches, schools, apartment complexes and assorted commercial buildings. There has been a very low callback rate with this treatment which demonstrates the effectiveness of the orange oil. There are several studies that recently came out that are flawed. One, a Technical Release, by Dow Chemical, manufacturer of sulfuryl fluoride (http://www.askthebugman.com/images/Newsletter/2009.pdf) is terrible. That paper cites a study done by Dr. Vernard Lewis of Berkeley. In Dr. Lewis' study he lists the products they use and where he obtained them. When he gets to XT-2000 (92% d-limenone) he says he got it from Formulated Solutions in Woodside, NY. That isn't possible as XT-2000 is only made by a company in Memphis, TN and a single distributor has all the rights to it. They are Xtermite, Inc from San Diego. I went to Formulated Solutions website, http://www.formulatedsolutions.net/index.htm and they don't mention orange oil of any kind. The third paragraph on their Home page is pretty clear: "Formulated Solutions has the knowledge, creative intensity and manufacturing resources to satisfy your needs. We provide custom chemical solutions for customers in many areas including but not limited to: epoxy, acrylic, urethane, Portland cement, SBR, EVA and PVA". It is apparent that Dr. Lewis couldn't get the real product so he had Formulated Solutions concoct something similar. He then did the study with a counterfeit XT-2000 and attributed the results to the real product. That is like doing a study on Coca Cola and testing a generic cola and attributing the results to Coca Cola. This is very bad science and he should know better. I can't believe the biology department or the university would condone this sort of study. Having seen that statement about where he obtained "XT-2000" early in the paper discredits the whole study in my opinion. I don't know why Dr. Lewis just didn't admit he used a similar product or simply refer to it as orange oil instead of labeling it XT-2000 which it clearly wasn't. This would lead one to believe he had a vested interest in destroying the reputation of a leading competitor to sulfuryl flouride. Who would benefit the most from this misinformation? Dow Chemical and the pest control companies that use sulfuryl fluoride, of course. The Technical Release offers more bad science. A Certified XT-2000 Orange Oil affiliate did not apply the treatment. Clearly the operator in the photograph was not trained by XT-2000, Inc. In fact, the fellow in the photo works for a company that actively promotes fumigation and has a vested interest in putting the orange oil companies out of business (as does Dow). They said in the study that "maximum volume of orange oil was absorbed by the wood". XT-2000 Orange Oil is a contact kill, so maximum volume would mean 100% kill. The only way they can accurately test maximum volume is by using a dye to verify maximum volume was achieved as XT-2000 Orange Oil is transparent. How could it be determined that maximum volume is achieved if dye wasn't used? As for XT-2000, the company that distributes it is very selective as to where it goes. Any company that wants to use it has to go through a vigorous training program first and have annual training updates. Very few pest control products are as vigorously controlled by private industry. Years ago we had DDT, chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin and many other pesticides that were thought to be ideal in how they controlled pests. I have used all of those products myself and I have fumigated many homes with sulfuryl fluoride. As time went by these products were determined to be far more detrimental to use than previously thought and they were eventually removed from use. Sulfuryl fluoride is in that category. It has been used in thousands of fumigations, most of them successfully, but we now know that sulfuryl fluoride is a serious greenhouse gas as noted earlier. The chemical's annual use in California creates emissions equivalent to the carbon dioxide produced by 1 million cars and California accounts for 60% of the sulfuryl fluoride used in the world. If this isn't bad enough they are contemplating expanding its use to farming. I think it is about time that Dow Chemical pulls Vikane off the market. Dow is not a bad company. They have a lot of very good products and services, yet like any company they have made mistakes. They would be doing their customers, society and the environment a service by removing sulfuryl fluoride from use and putting it in the museum alongside DDT, chlordane and the others. Sulfuryl fluoride is the past in drywood termite control and orange oil is the future.
It depends on whether they're alive.
When they're alive, they're living. They're like little bugs that eat wood and stuff.
Of course, they die, like all living creatures. After they die, they are non-living.
So really, the answer to your question is, It Depends! :)
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND WATCH OUT FOR TERMITES!
How are termites and ants similar?
Termites are actually more similar to cockroaches than ants. However, termites and ants may seem similar due to their body structure and antennae. Ants are less destructive than termites.
Which insects are the natural enemy of termites?
Ants are termites #1 worst enemy. There's also a type of assassin bug that hunts termites by disguising themselves with nest material. They then kill a termite, and use their victim's body as a lure for other termites.
How does protozoans enter into the gut of the termite?
How do trichonympha help termites?
A termite is the only insect that can digest wood cellulose... The reason they can do this is the trichonympha live inside the termites and they are what breaks the wood down making it digestible.
Termites are insects somehow comparable to ants or bees also forming huge colonies. Adult termites have legs and maggots do not. Maggots are the larves from flies for example, after they hatch from an eggs. Maggots can live on their own in cheese, meat or in open wounds when the egg is layed on it. Those maggots later build a capsule in which they transform into a new fly. The termite queens lays eggs from which larves hatch. Termite larves are fed by other termites. Search for more information development of bees, wasps, bumble bees or Vespa crabro.
What is the classification of the termite?
Kingdom: Animalia Phyllum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Isoptera: Termites are known as detritivores, which means that they eat decomposing plant matter. Around 10% of the estimated 4,000 different termite speciesare known as pests, as they can cause damage to buildings and agricultural land.
Ants do not have backbones it was because they do not belong to vertebrates group.
Termites can be classified into two types based on environment and colony size and they are dry wood and ground termites.
1. Drywood termite colonies live within the wood even with minimal moisture level. They do not require the presence of soil for nesting. A mature drywood termite colony can only have hundreds to a thousand termites. It is a tiny size compared to other colonies which could reach over a million termites. They feed on cellulose which is dominantly found in wood and wood based products. These termites can be found inside wood furniture, wooden walls and cabinets, etc.
2. Ground termites on the other hand necessitates moisture source in their nest and food for sustenance. They nest underground in soil and build webs of mud tubes as pathway while they forage for food. The mud tunnels also serve as their protection against predators, particularly ants which are their arch enemies. Ground termites are also capable of building nests above ground which are called aerial colonies as long as there is reasonable source of moisture nearby such as leaky pipes, roof and plumbing leaks.
It seems that there are many different species even among termites.
Where as some do not eat much wood at all, others seem to have a feast on wood.
A program I saw on National Geographic said that they grew their own mushroms in their houses, and that was their primary diet.
It varies how efficient their digesting-system works on cellulose.
Some are in fact dependent on bacterial parasites in order to get energy out of cellulose.
Various species prefer leafs and half rotten wood. Other species again prefer the fresh stuff. I do not think it matter much whether your garden furniture is softwood or hardwood regarding the right species of termites.
I am however sure the hardwood would last slightly longer.
How do you tell if your home has termites?
Dry wood with and against the grain of the wood with small fecal pellets - the damage will be smooth and clean. Subterranean will have no visible pellets, the damage will be filled with mud/dirt & will only go with the grain of the wood.
I once found that I had termites because there was a "tube" on the interior wall involved. Even though I had the wall taken out, luckily the termite colony had died. The outside wall had a faucet.
Identifying termitesTermite wings will be twice as long as the body, ants right around the same length as the body. Termite antennae will be pointed outwards, ants will be at a 90 degree angle. Dry wood termites are brown/maroon or gold in color. Subterranean termites will be jet black. Subterranean wings will have a whitish appearance, Drywood wings will have an iridescent appearance.It is a really good idea to go through a few termites pictures to get yourself familiar with how termites look like. Going through a few pictures always works better than reading text for me. You may use google image search to find some pictures. I have included a website focused on termites pictures (!) in the related sites list as well.
Getting an InspectionMost pest control firms will do an inspection for free. However, make sure you call a reputable firm and get a couple of estimates before having work done. Most lenders require a clear termite report before making a loan.The termites can do can be very severe. Keep your eye open for termite swarmers in or around your house. Using spectrum terminate bait stations as a early termite detection kit may also help to protect your home from termites. Their pop-up indicators will let you know if termites are foraging in the ground close to your home. These should only be used as termite monitors and not a stand alone treatment to rid your house of termites.
Are termites with wings or without wings?
Termites can be both winged and wingless, depending on their life stage. Winged termites, known as alates, are the reproductive members of the colony that leave to establish new colonies, typically during swarming season. Wingless termites, which include workers and soldiers, perform essential tasks like foraging for food and caring for the queen and young. Once a colony is established, most termites do not have wings.
- The ant is a nymph. (Meaning being a pre adult from the egg.)
What is the best way to kill drywood termites?
The best way to get rid of drywood termites is XT2000 Orange Oil, due to its capillary ability (this means that the treatment penetrates and travels through the pores of wood). It dissolves the exo-skeleton and eggs with no "move out" cost. Fiber optics are used to locate the colonies. It has been used in California in place of fumigation for the past ten years. I agree that XT2000 Orange Oil is a great termite eradication options but let's not forget about the fact that there are various termite infestations and sometimes it might be too late to use such a device. That's why I think that people looking for answers to this question should also try fumigation as a method to kill and get rid of termites.
