Termites

Subterranean termites are small, creamy white to dark brown insects about an 1/8 inch long. They do billions of dollars of damage to homes and commercial property in the USA every year! Subterranean termites live in underground colonies with as many as two million members. Their lifestyle is much like that of an ant except, they do it all underneath the soil's surface. Termites tunnel along randomly looking for wood to consume. Your concrete foundation is nothing more than a rock and the wood frame of your home is a fallen log in the forest. Hence, the best way to discourage termites from "picnicking" in your home is to keep the wood as far away as possible from the soil they travel in. Once they hit a rock, i.e. your foundation, they build distinctive tunnels, often referred to as "mud tubes," to reach food sources and protect themselves from open air. They use their scissor-like jaws to eat wood 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Like other termite species, subterranean termites also feed on products containing cellulose like paper and cardboard. Mature colonies of subterranean termites swarm in the spring and these darker-colored winged reproductive termites fly off to start new colonies.