- Termites eat non-stop – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Subterranean termites spend winters underground.
- Termites burrow into wood to obtain food.
- Given enough time, termites will feed until nothing is left of the wood but a shell.
- The total weight of all of the termites in the world is greater than the weight of all the humans in the world.
- The largest Formosan termite colony found in America had infested a public library in Algiers, La. It weighed 600 pounds and contained 70 million termites.
- 10% of the world’s animal biomass is composed of termites.
- There are about 2,000 known species of termites in the world.
- A mature Formosan termite colony can number in the millions.
- Termites cause as much as $5 billion in damage each year. Formosan termites alone cause over $1 billion in damage every year.
- An estimated 15% of all new homes have serious structural defects and damages, which may include termite damage.
- Formosan termites, widely considered a “super” species of termite, because of the rate of destruction it poses, currently infest 11 states.
- One colony of Formosan termites can eat up to 1,000 pounds of wood a year, compared to the 7 pounds that native termites eat.
- A single colony of Formosan termites could eat the whole structure of a home within two years.
- Formosan termites are the most destructive termite in the world.
- Drywood termites feed only on dry wood, including wooden doors, porches, cupboards, and entertainment centers.
- Warning signs of Drywood termites include discarded swarmer wings, gritty sawdust-like fecal pellets, and hollow wood.
- Signs of subterranean termite infestations include soft wood, mud tubes inside or outside the home and darkening or blistering of wood. These signs are often mistaken as water damage.
- Termites are sometimes treated with bait traps, cylinders containing wood and slow-acting poison that are buried in the ground around the perimeter of a home.
- Termites are sometimes treated with a liquid barrier method, which involves digging a trench around the home and drilling holes into concrete slabs into which pesticides are inserted. The trench and holes are then patched.
- 75% of households that experienced termite called a professional.
- Termites are the most likely of all pests to be treated by a professional.