UF/IFAS Sheds Light on Tiny Invaders During Termite Awareness Week

Termite Awareness Week, which started this Monday, is a national event that aims to spotlight the destructive potential of these tiny invaders and educate residents on preventive measures. March is the start of termite mating season, the time when these bugs swarm in search of new places to build colonies.

As termites cause billions of dollars in damage annually across the U.S., experts stress the importance of vigilance and proactive treatment. Termite expert Thomas Chouvenc, associate professor of urban entomology at the UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, shares some insight into Termite Awareness Week, as well as some facts about termites – the good, the bad and the weird.

Q: What is the purpose of Termite Awareness Week?

A: Termite Awareness Week is a national effort by the National Pest Management Association to make people aware that this is going to be the time of the year in the next weeks or months where you may see signs of termite activity. This is the time of the year where the colonies would have matured for years and be big enough to produce winged termites – future kings and queens – which fly out and create new colonies.

Their goal is to disperse from their colony, find a mate and start a new colony somewhere, just like ants do.

Established termite colonies have activity all year long, with workers feeding on wood, foraging and then once a year you see these winged termites coming out of the environment, your house, a tree. Depending on the species, that tells you there's termite activity nearby or within your house.

As an analogy, this is smoke telling you there's a fire somewhere. When winged termites are flying out, that’s telling you that they're coming from already established colonies and they are about to make more colonies, so your area is at risk of termite damage. Usually, you can spot some of the invasive subterranean and drywood termite species because they’re attracted to lights at sunset. For native subterranean termites, they’ll be swarming during the daytime.

If you see termites or evidence of termite activity, contact your pest control provider. Have a discussion with them, see which species you may be dealing with, and how you can protect yourself from potential upcoming damage.

I would argue that for Florida, it's termite season all year long because the workers in the colonies are the ones doing the chewing and the damage continuously, regardless of the season. However, during springtime, it is time where many of the species are making new colonies during reproductive season. They release the winged termites, which have the most visible activity. As the days are getting nicer, usually between March to May, you’re going to see termite dispersal flight activity.

Q: What good do termites do in the ecosystem?

A: Out of the estimated 3,000 species of termites around the world, most of them are distributed within the tropical areas of the world. They are fundamentally important for the health of ecosystems as major contributors to decomposition, so they speed up the process of the carbon cycle, especially within tropical environments. In addition, termites are important parts of the food chain, as many animals feed on termites, including ants, mammals, reptiles and birds.

Q: What negative effects can termites have in urban environments?

A: Some of the invasive species, like the Formosan subterranean termite and the Asian subterranean termite, have a unique ability to infest live, healthy trees in some urban and suburban areas.

In many cities across the southeast U.S., where these species are established, they attack live, healthy trees within the urban canopy and weaken the trees. This damage makes the trees susceptible to storms because the structural integrity is pretty much gone. These trees may not make it through a storm or a hurricane.

When it comes to home damage, knowing what type of termite you’re dealing with is going to be the No. 1 thing to do. If you don’t have the right identification, you can waste time, money and pesticide. Making sure you’re killing the right bug is important.

If you have drywood termites such as the West Indian drywood termite or the Western drywood termite, fumigation has become the primary way to manage them. The whole colony is living in a single piece of wood, but over time, they can make many small colonies across the house in cabinets, in furniture and in the walls, while remaining mostly invisible for most of the year but still doing some damage. Tenting is therefore an effective way to eliminate all the small colonies of drywood termites, even if you cannot find them.

Subterranean termites form large colonies in the underground environment and fumigation is not effective. Unfortunately, with some of the invasive subterranean termites, by the time you realize you have them, damage may already be problematic. They can do extensive foraging around the environment up to a football field away. We recommend baits or liquid termiticide treatments for subterranean termite prevention or for active infestation.

Q: What fun facts can you share about termites that might not be common knowledge?

A: Drywood termites, which are a major pest species, cannot survive in the presence of water as it is toxic to them. So if they feed through a wood roof, this results in water damage when it rains, which ironically may lead to the colony own’s demise.

Conversely, subterranean termites cannot survive without water. They usually bring water up from the ground with them in the home to be able to create a high-humidity environment, and they bring many mouths to feed with it. It’s interesting to know that one needs water and the other one cannot have water. Both are termites, but with very different biologies and requirements.

Another fun fact is termite kings and queens are potentially the longest-lived insects as reproductive adults on Earth that we know of. They can live up to 25 or 30 years, and they will stay together as a mating pair for decades, making their colonies bigger and bigger over the years.

It’s an interesting society where there’s a reproductive division of labor, where the mating pair gets to reproduce, and everyone else is sterile and does all the work. When the colony gets big enough, they produce the next generation’s hopeful kings and queens that will fly out to make their own colonies from scratch.

Termites can be fascinating, yet I know from a homeowner perspective, they can be horrifying.