What to Know About Swarming Drywood Termites in Orlando

August 17, 2017   |   Community Support

As an Orlando homeowner, you probably think you have all your bases covered when it comes to termites. After all, termites come from the ground and you’ve taken all the necessary precautions against them, right? Contrary to popular belief, not all termites enter your home from the ground. Some, such as drywood termites, can literally fall from the sky—or enter through your attic, anyway. Here are a few things you need to know in order to protect your home from a drywood termite swarm!

It’s time for drywood termite swarms in Orlando

The climate in Florida is what attracts many residents, including termites. They love the humid, warm climate of the state and have adapted to it well. So well, in fact, that drywood termites can and do swarm any time of the year. Drywood termites require little water to survive, so any time of year will do, but they especially love to swarm in the heat of summer. That’s why you have to be diligent and look for signs that you may have an infestation.

Signs of termite infestation

As their name suggests, drywood termites live in dry wood. That means you can find them anyplace in your home that has dry wood, such as:

• Foundations
• Door frames
• Windows
• Wood furniture, especially antiques

You should perform regular inspections of your property in order to make sure there are no signs of these pesky insects and take preventative measures. Look for:

• Clicking noises: Termites are loud! Soldier termites bang their heads against wood when alerting the colony of danger. The worker termites actively eating your wood are definitely loud eaters, too. You’ll hear them munching if you listen closely.
• You see flying termites or wings: One of the telltale signs of infestations is the presence of flying. They fly from the colony to mate and establish more colonies, swarming any time of the day, although they seem to prefer after a big rain. If you don’t see actual termites but just wings, that should alarm you, too. Their wings fall off after they find a mate.
• You see “white ants”: People often mistake white termites for ants. It’s a termite if it’s cream-colored or transparent, it has straight antennae instead of bent, and both sets of their wings are the same size.
• Hollow wood: Drywood termites love to eat wood, so finding wood that has been eaten from the inside out is a good indication you may have an infestation.
• Surface blisters: When termites tunnel near the surface of wood, it takes on a blistered appearance, which can be a sign of extensive infestation.

For more in-depth information, check out the State of Florida Department of Agriculture’s guide to drywood termites for residential homeowners.

Call the Orlando termite pros

Turner Pest Control has safe and effective Orlando pest control options available for homeowners to help you terminate a termite problem! Call us at 407-675-5000 to find out more about our comprehensive termite treatment programs.