Subterranean Termite winged reproductives or ‘swarmers’

in OCD4 years ago

Sorry it’s been so long guys! It’s my busy season and the time I make most of my money. I’m out killing pests and finding cool things to document and get back to you on later. One of those things I found was a pocket of subterranean termite wind reproductives. They are the winged form of the termite. They look similar to the workers but they are black instead of an opaque color.

9FCCB96F0AB04F178CC961EBCC66D01D.jpeg

You can see how well they blend in with the mulch. I started seeing them as I was walking around the house and couldn’t quite figure out where they were coming from. But I did see hundreds of them scurrying around on the Mulch.

116D96D9EB114989A0DCD4B649A0AC7C.jpeg

It took me a few minutes but I found the source! I happen to look up at the corner of the home and a section of the trim was pulled away from the wall. Water must’ve then getting in from being pulled away, creating the perfect environment for termite activity. Termites will eat any sort of wood but they love damp wood.

2F3E4AE395224512A1E7E74DC50936BE.jpeg

As I get closer and zoom in you’ll be able to make out the hundreds if not thousands of termite winged reproductive just hanging out and waiting to leave the care of their workers. When the temperatures rise into the 70s you can almost guarantee you’ll be getting calls for termites as people see these things leaving by the hundreds.

055E1C72D31E420985193DB045782799.jpeg

ECB9E93F65DA452FBAE4DBC36B68C97A.jpeg

Here’s a few additional shots of the same corner to give you an idea of how many termites were waiting to leave. Now granted I got here late and they have been swarming and leaving this area for quite some time. So you may see 100 or so but 1000 or so may have already leave the nest.

69A6A0FF5C954A61A527A84C225F80F5.jpeg

342CFBEFA86143B4AEEE9D36B7F50D2A.jpeg

A9211E97D543408DB5709D0833409EC1.jpeg

Here’s a picture of one in my hand for reference.

D5150747B8F44AFB87A017610C86A1FD.jpeg

Here’s a few pictures of the interior wall where the damage was found. They rip the wall apart and found termite mud tubes and active termites feeding on wood.

0C4558079D0646A0AF6567C02CEFC9CF.jpeg

72B7DFD0C2D947D3A348FDDC509F08B1.jpeg

4B0DADE01CC9464787C6D4FF4CB1A08A.jpeg

8E90EB90054D4531A876BB028391C014.jpeg

That’s all I got for now folks! I have a ton other material that I would love to post, when I find some extra time in between jobs. Things are starting to slow down a little bit but the weather is cool. Once the weather warms up again and we get a few thunderstorms I’ll be busy. Thanks for always supporting me! See you soon.