After a significant swarm of Formosan termites in the New Orleans area Monday night, here’s some basic information about the pesky critters:
Where are you from?
They come from mainland China, not Formosa, but were given the imprecise nickname by a Japanese scientist who “discovered” them on the island of Formosa, now Taiwan, at the turn of the 20th century.
This Formosan termite is a soldier in a well-organized army of millions. When they team up, Formosans make a perfect eating machine …
How did you come here?
The termites infest packaging box wood that was used to transport the equipment back to the United States towards the end of World War II. Some of the boxes were buried at Camp Leroy Johnson across the industrial canal from Lakefront Airport on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Infested packaging material also ended up in the Algiers naval station. In the Lake Charles area, wooden landing craft returning from the Far East after the war were also infested by Formosans. Since then, the insects have expanded their reach through their own swarming or through people bringing infested wood to new locations.
Close up of Formosan termites. The large white insect above is a secondary queen. Below is a soldier with dark brown pliers. The other a …
What are the different forms?
Baby formosans produced by the queen and king of a nest grow into one of several boxes:
- White workers gathering food and building nests.
- Soldiers with brown bodies, brown heads, and tongs protecting colonies from invading insects, including invasive fire ants.
- Alates, the winged, reproductive version that gushes at sunset.
Formosan termite workers worked hard on Monday, May 9, 2006, in a dead root still in the bottom of a Katrina-damaged jaw. (File …
How do new nests arise?
The formosan reproductive termites can only fly about 300 meters and use the moonlight to move as far away from their original nest as possible. This is why they are attracted to street lamps and lights in homes and other buildings. So turn off your outdoor lights and close your curtains when they rave about.
It only takes a man and a woman to build a nest. They fly until their wings fall off, find a mate, and then seek shelter, preferably near or in a source of cellulose such as a tree or wall with wooden supports and near a source of moisture. The couple become king and queen, and within five years the queen begins producing caste members for the new nest.
Formosan termites swarm by the lights of a soccer field in May 2020. (File photo by David Grunfeld)
When do they rave about?
Formosans swarm from April to June and fly at dusk on days that usually follow heavy rainfall, when temperatures are close to 80 degrees and the wind is below 8 km / h. In the United States, termites seem to have committed to having a large swarm on or near May 10, which often coincides with dinner time on Mother’s Day.
Formosan termites forage for food in an exhibition arena during the first Bug Fest on Saturday, May 12, 2018 in New Orleans City Mosquito …
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Why are Formosans so successful?
The scientific name Coptotermes formosanus has overproduced the indigenous subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes and practically driven it out of town. Formosan nests often have up to 10 million individual insects, while natives rarely have nests larger than 1 million. Native termites must have a direct connection to underground water sources, while formosans can survive in aboveground nests, in live oaks and other trees, or in walls as long as there is cellulose (wood) and water.
A lone Formosan soldier termite stands out from worker termites after researchers from the University of Hawaii …
How did formosan insecticides survive?
The Formosan termites found ways to avoid traditional liquid termiticides, possibly by recognizing their smells. In New Orleans, nests matured in live oak and other trees for years. Mature nests “learned” to dig their way through treated soil outside of homes, sacrificing individual workers, and bringing in clean debris to create tunnels that reach wood in walls, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage annually.
In the late 1980s, entomologists, led by researchers from Louisiana State University, the University of Florida, and the University of Hawaii, developed new tactics to attack termite colonies: slow-acting termiticides in liquid and solid forms. Rather than immediately killing individual insects, the workers brought treated material back to the nest and fed it to the queen, who would eventually die and destroy the entire colony.
A formosan termite infested tree on the 6600 block of Hastings Street in Metairie was toppled by strong winds in early April 2020, damn it …
What kind of stuff is in a Formosan termite nest?
Their nests are made of frass, the scientific name for their poop, which has been shaped into a building material. The termites can store water in some “rooms” from food, use other areas for kindergartens and for storing food. The material protects against other insects and against wind.
What if I think my house is infested?
First, finding termites crawling around after a heavy swarm doesn’t mean your home is infested. In most cases, these insects have crawled through cracks in windows or door frames to get inside. Just crush them as best you can. Most of them will dry out and die before finding their way into your walls.
If the termites are actually crawling out of a hole in your wall, it could cause problems. Call a qualified pest control company, preferably one with an entomologist – an insect doctor. They offer to inspect your home, possibly with newer thermal sensors that may detect a nest in your walls. You may want to get more than one inspection estimate to compare prices. Make sure that every agreement you sign has clear language that outlines guarantees of retreatment or repair if treatments don’t work.
Even if you don’t think your home is infested, this is a good time to check for basic signs of termite colonies on your own, including pillars of dirt on foundations that lead from the ground to a hole between bricks or in brick siding.
See The Times-Picayune’s 1998 series on formosan termites, “Home Wreckers.”
The 1998 Times-Picayune investigation into how the Formosan termite devastated the city of New Orleans.
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