[Termite Control]

We still cannot predict termite swarming dates with any accuracy, but the possibility exists that someone will eventually figure out the exact clues and develop an accurate prediction model. Until then, sit back and wait.
 

Editor’s Note: The following appeared on Mike Merchant’s blog, "Insects in the City," which can be found at http://insectsinthecity.blogspot.com. The blog offers readers news and commentary about the urban pest management industry and is excerpted here with the permission of the author.
 

If it hasn’t started already, termite swarming season will begin in many parts of the country in a few weeks. So why do termites swarm? Why not mate with other termites from the same nest? Surely this would be safer and easier for all concerned. And why do termites swarm at the same time, overloading phone lines of pest control companies on a few days of the year instead of spacing out the excitement in a more gentlemanly manner? Perhaps not surprisingly, the answers to these two questions are related.

Swarming season, as most PMPs can tell you, is when reproductive termites leave the nest in search of mates in the spring. Swarming is a common means for termites and other social insects, like ants, to ensure genetic diversity and maintain healthy natural populations. Charles Darwin was the first scientist to show the value of out-breeding on biological populations. Darwin showed that plants that were cross-pollinated with other plants of the same species produced more seed and more vigorous offspring than plants that were self-pollinated. Animals and plants that are inbred — such as would occur when termite swarmers breed with their own siblings (all termites in the same colony being related) — are more prone to genetic defects and diseases.

The same principle applies to termites, and possibly to our own inherent social aversion to incest and extreme familial inbreeding. Swarming is good for the termite breed because it increases the chance that termite kings and queens will mate with others from outside the family. This brings us to the issue of area wide, synchronous swarming.

When termites from different colonies swarm on the same day, or over a few days at the same time of year, they increase their chances of encountering more distantly-related termites from an outside colony. Although the exact clues termites use to synchronize their swarms is not fully understood, temperature and humidity clues certainly play a role. We still cannot predict termite swarming dates with any accuracy, but the possibility exists that someone will eventually figure out the exact clues and develop an accurate prediction model. Until then, sit back and wait. And while you’re waiting, marvel a little at the termite’s remarkable adaptive abilities.

The author has been an entomology specialist for Texas AgriLife Extension since 1989. Readers can contact him via e-mail at mmerchant@giemedia.com.
 

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Termite
Swarming Facts

• A "swarm" is a dispersal flight of winged termites to start new colonies.

• Subterranean termites typically swarm in the spring on warm, calm, sunny days following rain.

• Subterranean termite swarms usually occur between mid-morning and mid-afternoon and may last several hours.

• Drywood termites and Formosan termites swarm during the evening around or just after dusk.

• Since they are attracted to light, termites swarming indoors will fly toward light around windows and doors or even toward lights that are on in the room.

• Swarmers shed their wings after flight, as they will never fly again.

• After shedding their wings, the termites mate, then seek out sites to begin new colonies.

• Wood in contact with moist soil is a suitable colony site for subterranean termites.

• Interior swarms of subterranean termites will not reinfest the structure or its contents.

• A recent termite treatment may not prevent swarming, as the swarmers may have already moved above the treatment zone in the soil when the application was performed.

Source: www.terminix.com