In Oklahoma, the home is one of the biggest investments most people make. A problem that can come up and attack our homes is termites. Termites are wood-eating insects that will destroy your home if allowed to get in and feed upon it. These insects will build mud tubes and take away the structural rigidity of your house.
It’s important that if you think you have a problem with termites, you get in contact with a good Broken Arrow exterminator so that they can get this problem taken care of for you. There are even preventative measures that you can do to keep these insects out.
Termites are a special breed of insect that uses an incomplete metamorphosis. This means that they lay an egg and then it hatches as a nymph. A nymph looks a lot like the adult insect, but much smaller. As it grows, it has to shed its exoskeleton multiple times. Once it sheds it the last time, it will be a full-grown insect.
The nymphs will actually work as workers in the colony as they develop. Once they become full grown, that’s when they’ll take their actual position in the colony. In the colony we have workers, soldiers, and reproductives.
The reproductives are at the top of the food chain. Of course, the queen is the top of that section of the colony. She lays all the eggs for the colony, and once she starts, she never stops laying eggs for the entirety of her life.
Next you have what are known as alates. These are the swarmers, or the flying termites, that come out in the springtime. They’re coming out to find other mates from other colonies in order to pair up and create new colonies elsewhere.
The soldiers are the largest of the bunch. They usually have large and strong mandibles that they can use to defend the colony from attackers. If there is a problem in the colony, these insects come to life. They’ll run straight to the fray and use their large heads to block off the entrance and tubes that the attackers would be using.
The workers will seal off the tube behind them, and the soldier will give its life to protect the colony. Its large head can be used to block these holes. And of course, the workers are the most numerous. They do all the menial jobs of the colony.
If you’re wondering if you have problems with termites in Oklahoma, then you need to know the signs. In Oklahoma, we have the eastern subterranean termite. This is a termite that stays underground. It does this because it needs a lot of humidity, and the air underground is much more humid than aboveground.
In fact, if this insect finds itself aboveground without the added humidity of the underground air, it will dry out and die within a matter of minutes. So in order to avoid this, the termite will build mud tubes up the side of things to carry that humid air up so it can do the necessary processes that it needs to do above ground.
If you’re seeing mud tubes coming up the side of your house or foundation, then you know you have a problem. Once they’re inside, they will start to eat anything with cellulose.
Wood cells have two basic parts: lignin and cellulose. Cellulose makes up the majority of that cell. The insects gain their energy from that and pass the lignin on through. Often drywall and structural timber are food sources for these insects.
So if you’re starting to see weak spots in your drywall, that’s probably where they’ve eaten their way through to the point where the drywall has gotten thin. Sometimes they even break through and then will use mud to patch the holes. If you see any of these kinds of patches, again, it’s time to call a Broken Arrow exterminator.
A good Broken Arrow exterminator can do an inspection for you and has lots of options for taking care of these bugs and protecting your house from them. If you’re in the market for either of those situations, it’s time to call TermMax Pest Control. We’re the best Broken Arrow exterminator you can find, and we’d be happy to help you out with any kind of termite problem that you have.
