Termite Swarmers are out!

Most people think of termites as only being underground, but this time of the year (usually in April and May), we get swarming termites. The variety of termites in the mid-west are called Eastern Subterranean termites.
Swarming termites are the reproductive termites. When the weather temperatures and conditions are just right, the termites fly out of the ground in large numbers. After flight, the reproductives mate. After they mate, they drop off their wings, so sometimes, you will just see the clear wings laying around. The mated queens lay eggs, and after they hatch, the worker termites hatch out and those are the little critters that eat the wood and feed the rest of the colony.

What do reproductive (Swarmer) termites look like? They look similar to ants and many people think they ARE ants. However, upon closer inspection, termites have a “bullet” shaped body. Ants have sections (like a wasp). Also, termites have straight antennae. Ants have elbowed antennae.

Termites prefer to live under concrete pads, like stoops, patios, garage floors. So, many times when the termites swarm in the Spring, you find hundreds or thousands of swarmers crawling around on top of the slabs. The large number + the long white wings usually make them easy to identify. If you see something similar to what I described, give us a call or email us. We’ll send one of our inspectors over to evaluate and give you an estimate to treat them.Termite Pic