If you’re having an issue with termites or any other pests, then it’s time to call your Tulsa exterminator because they can do the job. Many people believe that pests are not a problem in the winter months. But there are some pests that continue to be a factor year-round. Wood destroying insects such as termites are no exception. These insects work year-round to destroy our homes and businesses. They’ll eat the wood that makes up the buildings that we live in and work in. In this article, let us take a good hard look at termites, their lifecycle, and what you and your Tulsa exterminator can do to stop them.
WOOD EATING TERMITES AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR
Termites are one of the few insects that have the ability to consume and gain energy from wood. Wood is essentially made up of two parts. There is lignin, and there is cellulose. The majority of the cell of the wood consists of cellulose. Inside the gut of the termite, an enzyme is found that can break down cellulose and turn it into energy. The termite uses this enzyme to create energy from the wood that it consumes. When a termite is young, it doesn’t have this enzyme in its digestive system. In order to put this enzyme in the digestion system, the adult termite workers will feed young termites the droppings of adult termites. This gives them the gut biome that they will need to break down wood and create energy out of it.
Termites use an incomplete metamorphosis to develop. This means that they lay eggs. The queen will lay millions of eggs in her lifetime. When these eggs hatch, a nymph will emerge. The nymph is a smaller version of the adult termite. This nymph will be fostered by the worker termites until grows to adulthood. A number of different times during its development, the termite nymph will have to molt. This is the process by which it sheds its exoskeleton in lieu of a new larger exoskeleton. Your Tulsa exterminator will have more information for you.
TERMITE MOLTING AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR
Without the ability to molt, the insect will outgrow the original exoskeleton that it started with, killing the pest. Many termite bait systems use this to their advantage. These bait systems have a special hormone in them that takes away a young termites ability to create the chitin that the exoskeleton is made of. Because they can’t create a new exoskeleton, they will never molt, and will outgrow the original exoskeleton that they started with. When this happens, they will die at a young age.
Termites are eusocial insects. They have three different castes in their colony. The first caste are the reproductive. As we talked about before, the queen will lay all the eggs for the colony. a mature colony can have a population in the millions. Because of this, the queen has a never ending job of laying eggs. She lays eggs 24/7 until the day she dies. Call your Tulsa exterminator to eliminate these pests.
TERMITE SOLDIERS AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR
The next caste are the soldiers. These termites lie dormant and wait until the colony has been attacked. Then their large heads and large mandibles are weapons that they use to attack and defend the colony. They will jump to attention when an invader intrudes and head straight into the fray. As they fight off the intruders, their large heads will block off the tunnels of the colony. The worker termites will fill in the tunnel behind the soldiering termite, trapping it. These insects almost always give their life for the colony.
Lastly, we have the worker termite. These termites are the most numerous of all the population. They are tasked with doing all the menial jobs such as digging the tunnels, searching for food, bringing food back, feeding the young, taking out the trash and many other things that are necessary. These worker termites are very susceptible to the outside air. They dry out very quickly. If they’re out in the outside air for too long, they will dry out and die. Underground they have much more humid air where they can thrive. Because of this, they will usually create mud tubes up the side of buildings and trees in order to forage for food without worrying about drying out. If you are seeing these mud tubes, call a Tulsa exterminator today.
TERMITE FORAGING AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
Termites will forage for food in the top 6 inches of the soil. They will fan out from the colony, trying to find a place where they can find wood to mine and bring back to the colony. As they reach the outside air, they’ll build those mud tubes in order to protect themselves. As the workers go across a piece of wood, they will go back-and-forth through that mud tube, digging away at the bottom floor of the tube. This is the part that is made up of the wood. As they dig the wood out, it will create these paths up and down the wood.
Often when I find a termite infestation is gone, you can see these paths because the mud tubes have worn away. But if there is an active termite infestation, there will always be tubes over the top of places where termites are currently feeding. If you’re having issue, this is important that you contact your Tulsa exterminator to get rid of these insects.
If you have an issue with termites or any of the pests, then it is time to call a Tulsa exterminator, that can help. Here at TermMax Pest Control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with termites or any other pests. We service the greater Tulsa area, including Owasso, Turley, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Prattville, Bixby, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Coweta, Claremore, Catoosa, and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!
