If you’re having termite issues, you can call your Broken Arrow pest control company and they’ll help you to get rid of those problems for you. Every year millions of dollars worth of damage is done by termites and other wood destroying insects. These insects can destroy any buildings if left unfettered. It’s so important that we not only get rid of termites out of your home, but also to protect your home from termites. Here in Oklahoma it’s not a matter of if you get termites. It’s a matter of when. In this article, let’s take a good hard look at termites, their lifecycle and how you can work with your Broken Arrow pest control company to get rid of these bugs from your home.

TERMITE TYPES AND YOU BROKEN ARROW PEST CONTROL

There are three different types of termites that we find. We have subterranean termites, dry wood termites, and wet wood termites. While we do have dry wood and wet wood termites in Oklahoma, they’re very uncommon, especially in the Tulsa area. The biggest problem with termites are subterranean termites, specifically the eastern subterranean termite. Subterranean termites are a breed of insect that requires extra humid air in order to survive. Underground they have access to very humid air, but once they come above ground, the air is too dry for them to survive. If they’re left out for any length of time, they will dry out and die. 

Because of this, these insects must carry the humid air from underground above ground in order to go above ground and forage for food. They do this by creating mud tubes that carry the humid, underground air up above ground, up the sides of trees and buildings. This way they can forage for food, remove the food and bring it back to their colony. Contact your Broken Arrow pest control company for more details.  

TERMITE COLONIES AND BROKEN ARROW PEST CONTROL

Termites are eusocial insects. They live in a large colony with millions of individuals. In order to survive, they separate the work needed to be done to survive through a three-part caste system. The reproductive cast is the first of those casts. It’s headed by the queen. Her job is simple, she must lay all the eggs to populate the colony. In order to complete this, she must lay eggs from the day she starts reproducing to the day that she dies, 24 hours a day. 

Included the reproductive’s are the aelates. These winged swarmers are a special kind of termite that is much more resilient to the outside air. These winged termites leave the colony in the late spring in order to swarm. The process of swarming is an effort to find other eligible mates from other colonies. Male and female swarmers will pair up, mate in mid air, and then find a place to start their new colony. Once they land, they will lose their wings and dig out a room known as a royal chamber. In the Royal chamber, the female will begin to lay eggs and the king will work as a worker until those eggs hatch become full grown adults. Those workers will replace the king and he will die. This is the beginning of a new colony. A quality Broken Arrow pest control company can help.  

SOLDIER TERMITES AND BROKEN ARROW PEST CONTROL

The second caste in the social caste system of the termite colony are the soldiers. These individuals are tasked with protecting the colony from invaders. They have large heads and powerful mandibles that can be used to fight when necessary. They lie dormant until the colonies tunnels have been breached. Once this happens, they spring into life and head straight into the fray. They attack with veracity and take out as many of their enemies as possible. While they’re fighting, their worker counterparts are filling in the tunnels behind them. This seals their fate, and they will fight to the death.

The last caste in the termite caste system are the workers. This is the most numerous of all the castes. These females are tasked with taking care of the young, foraging for food, bringing food back to the nest, taking out the trash, feeding all of the soldiers and reproductive, and anything else that is required to keep the colony moving. Your Broken Arrow pest control company can take care of these termites.  

TERMITE FEEDING AND BROKEN ARROW PEST CONTROL

While many people believe the fallacies that modern cartoons have given us, termites don’t actually eat two by fours and turn them in the dust in a matter of minutes. It takes a while for termites to actually do their damage. But the slow steady work overtime can cause great structural issues in your home or business. On average, a full-size colony can consume the equivalent of about two feet of a two by fours in a year. But this is not the way that they eat. They create galleys up the sides of two by fours that weaken them slowly over time. These galleys will extend far up the sides of the two by fours until they’ve lost their structural integrity. Because of this, multiple points can have structural issues in a home that’s been attacked by termites.

YOUR BROKEN ARROW PEST CONROL ELIMINATES TERMITES

There are two ways to deal with termites. Liquid treatments are quite common. This is the process of digging a trench around the building and drilling holes anywhere where there is cement that goes up to the building. Pesticides are put into the trenches and injected into the holes in the cement, creating a barrier all the way around the building. Because termites forage in the top six inches of the soil, they will come in contact with these pesticides, and it will wipe out the colony. The other option is to use bait stations. Plastic bait stations are buried every 20 feet around the exterior of a building. These bait stations have pure cellulose laced with pesticide in them. The termites will take the bait back to their colony and feed it to the young, wiping out the county.

If you’re having issues with termites or any other insects, it’s time to call a Broken Arrow pest control company that can take care of the problem for you. Here at TermMax Pest Control, we’re the best of the business when it comes to dealing with termites or any other pests. We service a greater Tulsa area, including Owasso, Turley, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Prattville, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Jenks, Claremore, Catoosa, Coweta and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!

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