Wood Destroying Insect Inspection
Armored Home Inspections, LLC offers Wood Destroying Insect Inspections which can be performed with or without a home inspection. As Pennsylvania requires, our inspectors are certified by the PA Department of Agriculture. Your inspection will include a report of findings and recommendations on form NPMA-33, graphs of any visible damage or activity, and when needed a proposed estimate of costs for treatment. Contact us to find out more, or to schedule an inspection.
Though our WDI Inspection covers all types of wood destroying insects, such as carpenter ants, carpenter bees, powder post beetles, and termites, the most commonly occurring activity and damage comes from termites.
Termites are a very interesting insect, and yet the public knows very little about them. You may have heard rumors or tales of termites eating up a house right from under a homeowner. Though they can literally do this, it would take a very large colony and a very long time to actually cause a house catastrophic structural damage.
What Is A Termite?
First let’s look at the Eastern Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes). Though there are more than 2000 species, the distinguishing trait of the termite is that it is a two-segmented insect, whereas all others are three-segmented. They have a head and an abdomen. They are the only known insect that can actually digest wood cellulose. Other wood destroying insects such as Carpenter ants, Carpenter bees, and various wood destroying beetles and wasps may bore into wood, nest in wood, spend parts of the life cycle in wood, but only the mighty termite actually has the ability to consume wood. See Penn State University’s Booklet on Eastern Subterranean Termites.
Our certified inspectors will evaluate the interior and exterior of your home for signs of termite activity. Evidence of activity may include the presence of termite swarmers or their wings, damaged wood, and termite shelter tubes. Through careful examination of the areas most commonly affected by termites, and probing the wood throughout the area, we can detect visible evidence of termite activity and propose the appropriate measures needed to control the ongoing infestation. See Termite Photos and Damaged Wood in Penn State University’s Fact on Termites.
Controlling Termite Activity
Our Inspectors know the conditions which are conducive to a termite invasion, and we are there to educate you on what to do to keep termites at bay. Here are a few tips.
- For one, a homeowner needs to fix any known leaks as soon as possible. Termites need moisture. If they can get the moisture they need within the home, they do not have to return to the ground to get it.
- Homeowners need to keep shrubbery away from the structure so the building can be visually inspected for shelter tubing that may be constructed by termites.
- Firewood and other wood products or debris should be stored away from the foundation including old tree stumps.
- Any wood to soil contact should be avoided. This is common in older homes where stair stringers are buried in the concrete slabs.
Lastly, we recommend that homeowner’s have a certified pest control operator out to their home annually for routine termite inspections. Contact our Armored staff today for your “Inspection Protection”.
Learn More About These Interesting Termites
Termites are social insects that have an organizational structure. They live in large nests and have various types of individuals that perform various functions within the colony. Different castes exist in the termite colony. Individuals which are morphologically and functionally different from other individuals in a colony make up a caste. Three castes are commonly found in most termite colonies. These are:
The Reproductive Caste consists of the queen and the king termites, as well as, any supplemental reproductive termites. These supplemental reproductives are those adult termites that are produced within the colony, usually after the death of the king and/or queen. They are also produced when the colony has grown so large that many of the termites in the colony become isolated from the main colony. At that time new reproductives are produced.
Supplemental reproductives never have full wings (they have short wings or no wings at all). They do not have the dispersal flight king and queen swarmers have prior to their establishing new colonies. The king and queen termites are also known as the swarmers or primary reproductives. They’re not produced by the colony until at least 3-4 years after its’ inception.
The Worker Caste are the termites that make up the majority of the termites in a given colony. The workers consist of both males and females. They are wingless, usually without compound eyes, and usually unpigmented and thus whitish in color. The workers duties include, foraging for food, feeding the queen, soldiers and young, constructing and repairing the mud tubes, and grooming the reproductives, soldiers, and young. They also help defend the colony when needed.
The Soldier Caste’s primary function is to defend of the colony. Soldiers of the eastern subterranean termite species are easily recognized by their large heads and mandibles. They use these mandibles to bite any invaders who may attack the colony. Soldiers are not produced in quantity until the colony is further along in its’ development. Soldiers cannot feed themselves, they are fed by the workers.
The Life Cycle
After a swarm, where male and female ’reproductives’ seek out a new nesting site, a female finds a suitable nesting site. Males follow close behind her as she releases a pheromone/chemical attractant. The closest male following her will retire to the nesting site. They dig into the soil and then seal themselves inside.
Mating occurs within hours or weeks after the pair is sealed in the nest site. These termites continue to mate for life, unlike ants, which mate only once. This species of termites produce about 60 eggs per day. Other species are known to produce up to 86,400 eggs per day. The eggs will hatch in about 50 days.
The queen termite will never leave the nest again. She becomes what is called an ’egg laying’ machine. The workers will take care of her-feeding and grooming her. They move the eggs as they are produced. The eggs are hatched into small termites called nymphs. Nymphs are capable of becoming any one of the castes (workers, soldiers, or reproductives). Which caste they develop into is determined by the needs of the colony.
Some Text Courtesy of: The accredited Wood Destroying Insect Inspector Program Rev. 20
