ATLANTA – Although we are spending more time at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we may not be able to see that an uninvited guest is there to destroy.
Termites are not interested in a pandemic. Their unusual appetites draw us to our home to dine on whatever wood it can find.
In Georgia, hunger for the underground termite is the greatest threat.
“They’re definitely very interesting insects,” says Toby Miller of Arrow Exterminators
According to the Department of Agriculture, termites cause nearly $ 40 billion in damage worldwide each year.
It’s not really the wood they’re looking for. You want the cellulose that’s in the wood. Protozoa that live in a termite’s digestive system break down the wood and cellulose.
They eat to survive, but termites are also a food system. Termites carry some of the cellulose back to their queen.
“The protein from the cellulose is used by the queen to make the eggs that termites produce in the colony,” says Miller.
Termites are attracted to water. If there is moisture in your home, you are a target.
Make sure downspouts are directing water away from your home. Prevent moisture from getting into your crawl space.
By the way, termites target anything that is made of wood.
“You will see bubbles on sheetrock,” says Miller. “There termites ate paper on the back of the Sheetrock.”
No one who owns a home has an appetite for the damage a hungry termite can do.
