Drywood Termites

You have termites in your yard and you are ready to go call a professional or go to the store and buy some pest control products to treat them now. However, do you know what kind of termites that they are? You can save yourself a lot of time and money by finding this out first. So let me tell you how you can find out if you have Drywood Termites, then this article should let you know.

Drywood termites are notorious for living in decayed, dry wood. Unlike most termites, they do not require direct contact with the soil to live. This is because they do not need a lot of moisture to survive. They can be very damaging to wooden objects that are around the yard or in your house, such as furniture and sheds. This is why they can be very damaging to your house.

Drywood termites live in the southern part of the United States. They live all along the Mexico border and along the southern part of the east and west coast. They are all over the state of Florida and New Mexico. They do not live in the northern part of the United States.

When Drywood Termites make their nest, they burrow into the wood and seal the hole with a brown material about 1/8 of an inch in diameter. Behind this plug is where the queen lays her eggs. The babies then are born and begin working for the colony immediately. They will either become a soldier or a reproductive. There are no workers, for they all contribute in feeding their colony. This is why they build their nests where their food source is.

When Drywood Termites swarm, they will make holes through which the reproductives will live until they leave the colony. These holes are then covered with a brown material that protects the colony. When Drywood Termites do damage, they do it differently than Subterranean Termites. They leave holes cut across the grain where they make large chambers connected by small tunnels. They really make the wood fragile and frail.

Here is a picture of what Drywood Termite Damage would look like

If anything that I have mentioned matches the type of termite that you are dealing with, then you are likely to have Drywood Termites. Do not ignore these symptoms. Treat it immediately by calling a professional or DIY Termite Treatment methods.