Termite swarming habits
Our area’s humid climate offers the perfect environment for swarming termites. These are a few of the common types of drywood and subterranean termites and when you’re likely to see them in Florida.
Southeastern drywood termites are usually seen from May to November between dusk and dawn. This is the most widely distributed termite in the eastern U.S., particularly in the coastal regions of the southeast. Unlike subterranean termites, drywood termites live entirely within the wood they infest, even getting their water from the wood’s fiber.
Over a period of a few weeks each year, some of the drywood termites in a colony molt into winged swarmers and leave the colony to seek sites for new colonies. You may see them attracted to lights around the outside of your house.
These termites will infest softwoods and solid hardwoods, including types of lumbers commonly used in structural framing. Even structures that are only a few years old may become infested. Drywood termites leave behind “frass” – or debris pellets of termite fecal matter that look like coffee grounds or pepper in most cases.