WALKER’S TERMITE & PEST CONTROL INC.

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL 24 HOUR SERVICE AVAILABLE

MD. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE LICENSE #1180

3332 POUSKA ROAD, ABINGDON, MD21009

E-MAIL:

(410) 515-1818 (800) 366-9153

FAX: (410) 515-0648

TERMITE SWARMERS

You may notice winged termites, called swarmers, after your home has received a through termiticide application. This can be a normal occurrence due to the biology of these insects.

Subterranean termites require food and water to survive. These termites feed on wood and plant products, such as paper, particleboard, and fabrics. Subterranean termites generally obtain their water from the soil. They live in colonies that can contain many thousands of individual termites. These colonies are composed of distinct castes or classes, workers, soldiers, and reproductives. As their names indicate, each class of termites has unique responsibilities within the colony.

Workers move between your home and soil throughout each day to collect food and water for the colony. Soldiers protect the colony from dangerous intruders, such as ants. Swarmers are winged reproductives that leave the colony to begin new colonies.

Your pest control professional used a termiticide, such as Dursban*TC or Equity*, to create a protective barrier between your home and the soil. Termite workers moving between your home and the soil will contract this barrier and die. Thus, workers will be unable to bring water back to other termites, such as swarmers, which may be in your home. Eventually, all termites in you home will die, either by contact with the treated soil, or by lack of water. The length of time for this to occur depends upon temperature, humidity, size of the termite colony, and other conditions.

Should you find termites swarming indoors after the termiticide barrier is applied, do not feel that the treatment was unsuccessful. Swarmers may be leaving the colony due to adverse conditions, such as lack of water and termite mortality, resulting from an effective termiticide treatment.

Swarmers may use an existing mud tube, which workers abandoned after proper treatment, to leave the colony. Reproductives may also move through treated soil. Since reproductives move through soil very quickly, they absorb less insecticide than do workers that move slowly. Due to this fast movement, reproductives absorb less insecticide and are thus able to exit treated soil to swarm. Reproductives will die soon after they leave the soil either naturally or by the insecticide that they contacted as they moved through the soil.

Fortunately swarmers are not capable of constructing mud tubes or causing structural damage to wood. They merely indicate the colony is active in the area. The presence of swarmers does not necessarily indicate that workers are still feeding on wood in the structure nor does it mean that improper treatment was performed. In any case a thorough inspection should be performed after the observation of swarmers to discover if there are active workers that may have found an untreated gap in the soil barrier. A spot treatment at that location may be needed if active workers are present.

Alternatively a structural problem mayexist which permits termites to avoid contacting the termiticide treated soil. For example, subterranean termite colonies can survive above ground with no soil contact if a sufficient water source is available within the structure. Leaking roofs, bathtubs, showers, dishwashers, and plumbing can be sources of water for termites.

Keep your pest control professional informed of your situation. With their expertise and your cooperation your valued property will be protected.

SERVICING MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, & DC