| For Bluffton today
Our rising temperatures and the damp weather are an invitation for swarms of termites. Don’t let these voracious little bugs eat you outside and at home before calling a termite specialist.
Upon noticing some of them sneaking around a few lower boards above the ledge of our house, I immediately go through the yellow pages to find a reputable exterminator.
Termites are insects that live in communities, much like ants. They have long been known as “white ants” which is wrong because they are only in their habit of living together and being small like ants.
Aside from being devastating to a homeowner, you must credit them for the ingenuity in construction engineering and their survival rates.
There are three classes in most termite colonies, some of which are breeding, some are workers and others are soldiers.
Each colony contains a king, queen, and annual harvest that leaves the nest, mates, and sets off to start a new colony. They only use their delicate, membranous wings for a short flight before dropping them and building a house.
The workers are the most numerous in a colony. They make the nest bigger and dig through the ground in search of food and water, make earthen tunnels over the ground, gnaw through wood or other vegetative material to provide food for the entire colony.
The soldiers, like the workers, are wingless and blind. They are taller, have enormous hard heads, strong jaws, and strong legs. The soldiers’ only duty is to defend the colony from attack, mainly from ants. But strangely enough, they cannot fend for themselves and must be fed and cared for by the workers (perhaps as women do for their husbands).
Termite eggs and newly hatched young appear to be the same. Why some develop into workers and others into soldiers or reproductive workers is not fully understood, but it appears that hormones determine their development. Yes, even the termite has hormones, but hopefully no hot flashes.
Termites build nests out of huge mounds of debris mixed with saliva that average 3 to 5 feet high, but some can reach 20 feet or more. In the center is a closed cell that contains a king and queen who are being held captive.
In the cell, the female undergoes an extraordinary change in which her body swells up until she is big enough to hold many thousands of eggs. When the eggs are completely cylindrical like a sausage, they are laid at the rate of thousands per day as the workers carry the eggs to specially constructed cells where they care for the larvae as they hatch from the eggs. Amazing!
James Herriot’s books say it all with titles like “All Creatures Great and Small” and “The Lord God Made Them All”.
Termites digest wood, paper, and cellulosic materials, damage house woodwork, destroy books, furniture, and even damage sugar cane and orange trees. I think they have a sweet tooth along with their hormones.
The information for this column was obtained through first-hand knowledge and readings from the World Book Encyclopedia. You can find more interesting information at www.termiteweb.com, especially information on Formosan Termite, the most aggressive and destructive termite in the world USA These termites have huge nests with millions of termites that tirelessly seek and devour timber, power poles, ships and barges .
This particular termite caught my attention while preparing this column for a quick recap on the Weather Channel, which talked about water-damaged property in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina left homes underwater.
Like other termites, they like to swarm in late spring or summer, usually after a warm, rainy day, preferably with high humidity, in the evening hours from dusk to midnight. Have your favorite pest control number ready and keep your eyes peeled for these hungry animals.
“All of God’s creatures are a unique expression of life, whether on earth for 100 days or 100 years.” – Anthony Douglas Williams
Jean Tanner is a lifelong resident of rural Bluffton. She can be reached at jstmeema@hargray.com.
