They are tiny, and they have a voracious appetite. New Jersey pest control professionals say that it’s time for termites to take flight once again. Count the houses on your street. Did you know that one in every five homes in New Jersey will suffer from termites munching away each year? These horrible wood-destroying pests cause homes and businesses over $5 billion in damages in the United States alone. According to the National Pest Management Association, left untreated, termites would eat every bit of the wood in any type of structure that they infest. The good news is that there is only one type of termite in New Jersey…the Eastern Subterranean Termite. The bad news is that it is extremely aggressive and prevalent.
The queen termite is enormous in size when compared to other termites in the colony. She can easily produce more than 2,000 eggs each day. Well protected and living deep in the confines of the colony underground, the queen will live more than 25 years. The king termite is much smaller than the queen. He enjoys a life of leisure in the central chamber with the queen and is tended to by the workers.
The worker termites are the critters that cause damage to wood. They gather food, construct tunnels, enlarge the colony, groom each other, feed the queen, king and soldiers, and care for the young.
The soldier termites defend the colony. They are larger than the workers, orange in color, and have mandibulate pinchers. Their biggest enemy is the marauding ants.
New Jersey pest control professionals say that NJ residents should keep a watch out for termite swarms. Winged reproductives come to the surface from their underground nests once the colony reaches maturity. Termites are not good at flying and rely on the wind to carry them to a suitable location for a new nesting site. NJ pest control experts say that swarmers are a clear indication of a large termite nest in the vicinity and a sign that a NJ pest control professional is needed.