Q: What is the Most Common Sign of Drywood Termites?
A: The most common sign of Drywood Termites is small fecal pellets that are small (about 1/25 inch), hard, and elongated with six sides.
Source of Drywood Termites in NC
Q: What is the Most Common Source of Drywood Termites in North Carolina?
A: The most common source of Drywood Termites in North Carolina is infested furniture brought here from other states such as Florida, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Carton Nest
Q: Which Type of Termite Forms a “Carton” Nest?
A: Formosan Termites form a carton nest.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Years Until 60,000
Q: How Long Does it Take for a Subterranean Termite Colony to Reach a Mature Size of 60,000 Termites or More?
A: It takes 3 to 5 years for a Subterranean Termite colony to reach a mature size of 60,000 of more.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Worker Termites
Q: What are Worker Termites?
A: Worker termites are the creamy-white, eyeless, wingless termites that perform the actual work of the colony.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Soldier Termites
Q: What are Soldier Termites?
A: Soldier termites are termites with enlarged, dark heads, sword-like mandibles, and no wings. They guard the colony against predators, primarily ants.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Protozoa
Q: What are Protozoa?
A: Protozoa are microorganisms that break down cellulose in the hindgut (intestines) of the termite.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Secondary Reproductives
Q: What are Secondary Reproductives?
A: Secondary reproductives are wingless or nearly wingless termites that do not leave the colony. They produce eggs to supplement the queen’s egg production, enabling the colony to grow at much faster rate.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Primary Reproductives
Q: What are Primary Reproductives?
A: Primary reproductives are also called “Swarmers” or “Alates”, they are the winged members of termite and ant colonies. Primary reproductives fly out of a colony to mate and start a new colony.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Nymphs
Q: What are Nymphs?
A: Nymphs are immature termites. This is for both drywood and subterranean termites.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Mandibles
Q: What are Mandibles?
A: Mandibles are the jaws of a soldier termite. Mandibles are very large and are used for protection against other insects.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Colony
Q: What is a colony?
A: A colony is a family group of insects originally descending from a single queen. All members of a colony live and cooperate together. Individual members perform different jobs that benifit the colony as a whole.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Cellulose
Q: What is Cellulose?
A: Cellulose is the primary component of wood and wood byproducts. Termites use cellulose for food.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Castes
Q: What Are Castes?
A: Castes are groups within a colony that all serve the same function. Examples of castes are worker, soldier, and reproductive.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Softwood Trees
Q: What are softwood trees?
A: Softwood trees are trees that produce seeds not enclosed in a fruit or nut. Softwood trees usually have needles or scale-like leaves held year round.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Sapwood
Q: What is sapwood?
A: Sapwood is the outer, light-colored wood on a tree stem that contains living cells and conducts water up the tree.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Heartwood
Q: What is heartwood?
A: Heartwood is the inner portion of the woody stem which is composed of non-living cells. It is usually darker than the sapwood.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Hardwood Trees
Q: What are Hardwood Trees?
A: Hardwood trees are trees that produce seeds enclosed in a fruit or nut, and that usually lose their leaves in the fall. The term has nothing to do with the hardness of the wood.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
Fiber Saturation Point
Q: What is the definition of fiber saturation point?
A: The fiber saturation point is the percent of moisture in wood when all of the free water has evaporated and only the bound water within the cell walls is present. The fiber saturation point averages about 28 percent moisture content (with a range of 25 to 30 percent). It is also worth noting that when the moisture content drops below the fiber saturation point, the wood begins to shrink.
Posted in Termites
Comments Off
NC’s Worst Pests April 2011
NC’s Four Worst Pests Spring 2011
#1 Ticks
Ticks are bad almost everywhere in the spring. In Raleigh they’re really really bad. If you have kids and pets or if you spend much time in the yard you know what I’m talking about. We’ve heard from more than one resident of Raleigh this year that they’ve found three ticks on them after spending time outside.
#2 Carpenter Bees
They start to come out in March. They’re in full force all through April. They start to subside in May. They’re carpenter ants and what starts as just a few can become a severe infestation. We put them at number 2 only because they don’t suck you’re blood.
#3 Clover Mites
What are those tiny reddish brown dots around my window and in my tub? That’s the question we’ve had a lot of this spring. The answer is clover mites. They love to infest the sunny warm spots of the home – and they were especially bad this year.
#4 Ants
Ants don’t rest any month of the year. However, they really got to work this spring. The worst were the little black ants, who’ll do almost anything for a little sugar.
Posted in Uncategorized
Comments Off