What Time of Year Do Termites Appear?
Termite season starts when termites appear in swarms. But they could have infected your home before the damage becomes evident. Regardless of the weather, termites can start invading your home even without signs of swarms.
Springtime Flowers
Swarming season can be associated with the blooming of specific trees. One of the termite species swarms when the dogwood tree starts to bloom, and flowers first appear. It is also sometimes linked to the blooming of chestnut trees.
Subterranean termite swarms during summer months, especially in warm weather after a rainfall. In contrast, drywood termites are swarming during late summer or fall, from August to November. However, some subterranean termite species don’t swarm at the same time. Each flying termite swarms based on their favored weather, so termite flying is likely to happen at different times. It could happen separately by a matter of weeks or time of the day.
Most subterranean termites swarm in the spring and summer, which is also when homeowners notice some signs of infestation. Summertime is the season where termites’ activity is inside their colony, where they spend foraging and eating.
Summer Activity
Long rainy season is gone, and the moisture brought huge problems inside the termites’ colony. Due to the changing weather conditions, the working caste of the colony is affected due to many are dying. But when the queen lays new eggs, the amount of workers increases. There is also plenty of food as the upper part of the soil is warm and moist.
Fall Swarmers
The flight times of termites vary depending on weather conditions. Hence, not whole reproductive castes swarm all at once. In the United States, it takes another month for other species to swarm again. Eastern subterraneans swarm time is in April, then dark Southern subterranean termites follow in May.
The light Southern subterranean termites like to swarm during fall, which happens in August through November, while the adult species that are smaller and pale brown prefer to swarm at the same time of the day, mostly in the late morning. They are often mistaken with ants that crowd at the same time of the year.
Top 5 Termite Signs To Look For In Your Home
Termites are considered a national problem in the United States after they were discovered in 49 states. Protecting your home from future termites infestation, saving money, and keeping your family safe is one of the best ways to invade these home invaders.
When termites have been nesting in your home for years, it will leave huge damage to thousands of dollars, which is not covered by the homeowner’s insurance. Be vigilant in looking out for signs to prevent any damage and maintain the pest protection plan. You can also ask for annual inspection from a reputable company to remove your worries for repairing your home.
Below are the common signs of termite activity.
- Blisters in Wood Flooring. Blisters are an implication that termites are devouring within or below. Subterraneans attack the subfloor making it look like the water damaged it.
- Hollowed or Damaged Wood. Termites chew on wood looking for cellulose where it leaves long grooves behind where over time, they weaken the wood and damage the structure. You can search below and behind the walls or floors for the signs of wood damage.
- Evidence of swarms. When you found wings near windows or doors and other access points, it’s because termites fly out of their nest to mate, and they are looking for a new site to start a new colony. They intentionally twist their wings to discard as they will never need it again. To differentiate it from the ants’ wings, termites have the same sizes of wings, while the ants have one pair of larger wings.
- Mud tubes. Subterranean termite nests underground and traverse to the food source, that is why you can find mud tubes where the house touches the soil. There are an ideal temperature and levels of humidity for termites to survive, and the mud tubes help block the air that makes your house a perfect place they can thrive.
- Drywood termite droppings. These species live inside the wood, and they create holes to extract their excrement. So whenever you find some mounds of pellets that look like sawdust or coffee grounds, it is a sign of drywood termite infestation.
Do Swarming Termites Mean An Infestation?
If termite swarming occur in your home, the surviving ones will look for a place to start a new colony, and it also means that your home is infested. If a swarm occurs outside your home and you find some stragglers inside your home, your house is not likely infested, but a termite colony might be nearby.
Swarming season have one purpose, which is to reproduce and create a new colony. Flying termites are not capable of causing damage to your house because they lack biting and chewing mouthparts. Each termite colony produces hundreds of swarmers, but only a few survive.
What Attracts Termites To Your Home?
Food is the main attraction to termites as they love to eat wood and anything that is cellulose-based/ This includes lumber, firewood, wooden structures, paper, and a lot more. Warm and dark places are their favorite areas, such as crawlspace. They also live in moist soil and your house foundation.
Termite Treatment
Although there are do-it-yourself options, you can handle to treat a termite infestation in your home. You can make use of termite prevention instead of pest control. Professionals best handle termite treatments, but there are things that you can also do yourself to prevent termites from thriving in your house.
- Throwing away of decayed lumber and firewood and keeping wood items away from your foundations.
- Reducing moisture in crawl spaces.
- Repair damaged faucets and leaking water pipes.
- Keeping water from foundations through working gutters, downspouts, and splash blocks.
- Set up sprinklers to spray away from the house foundations.
Conclusion
The termite season happens when termites become visible. Swarms can happen indoors or outdoors. A termite swarm can last 30-40 minutes, and termite flies toward the light source like windows and doors. If they cannot find soil, they will die from dehydration in a few hours. Often, termite swarming season is the only time the homeowners will find out there is a termite infestation. Mature termite colonies produce winged termites that will fly off to create new colonies.
Unfortunately, even though you don’t see signs of termites until termite season, it does not mean they are not present. Termite damage is not visible at first, and so is the damage, but you may be able to discover their presence when the damage is already significant. That is why you have to be keen when it comes to pest control. If you suspect termites cause problem is happening in your property, get in touch with a professional pest control expert. A thorough termite inspection should be done to identify the species of termites as they need to know which extermination process to be used. Or protect your home with the do-it-yourself termite prevention tips.
