Coptotermes are one of the most aggressive termites in SE Queensland and can cause up to $1000 a week in damage. This is a sub colony that has come from the main colony in the subfloor of the home. There are multiple colonies in and around this home and they have already caused thousands of dollars worth of structural damage including cutting off electricity in areas. The termite system we uses guarantees colony elimination, once we have achieved this our builders can go in and asses the damage and carry out any rectification works.

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SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry professor of animal physiology J. Scott Turner is considered one of the world’s leading experts on termite mounds. For the past 26 years he has scanned them with lasers, filled them with plaster and propane and even fed termites green water all in the hope to better understand the amazing structures that are termite mounds.

A single termite is quite small, approximately the size of standard black ants, but when combined in colonies of hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of individual termites they can build structures that can reach over 1.8 meters tall. In a typical termite mount the approximately 15kg of termites are able to transport a quarter of a ton of soil and several tons of water in a single year, all in the effort to build their home.

In addition to experiments on physical termite mounds, Turner designed computer simulations that allowed him to explore patterns in termite behaviour. Turner found that termites are constantly rebuilding in a race against the weather, specifically rain. Whilst mounds can take up to five years to build, a heavy downpour will cause approximately a third of all termite mounds in the affected area to collapse.

Turner was able to demonstrate the termites amazing ability to rebuild buy putting a hole in the side of a mound. Almost instantaneously termites spill out of the hole to collect soil to rebuild. Turner’s research has shown that in lab situations a similar reaction can be trigged by varying air pressure, humidity and concentrations of CO2 in the air.

When a termite first noticed a sign of disturbance in the mound, it communicates the message with other termites via touch and vibrations, the masses of termites are alerted by the increase in activity in a certain area and flock to the area to help repair the damage.

Turner says that the mounds are not high rise style residential structure like most people believe, but are instead accessory organs of gas exchange. As the majority of the colony lives underground, these mounds serve as an inlet/outlet systems for respiratory gasses for the colony.

Whilst experimenting on colonies Turner added green dye to the termites water supply to track the distribution of water throughout the mound. During this experiment he discovered that the termites transfer water from insect to insect via a mechanism he called the “Wet Kiss”. This allowed the termites to transfer the water much like a bucket brigade and get it to the spots in the mound that need it the most.

These highly social skilled workers could potentially teach us lots about thinking. Research out of Harvard’s Wyss institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering lead computer scientists and roboticists to turners site to observe termite behaviour using a series of high tech scanners and software. Harvard robots professor Radhika Nagpal draws similarities between termite colonies and the human brain. Stating that individual termites react rather than think. However at a group level they demonstrate a level of cognitive awareness of their surroundings not dissimilarly to the function of neurons in a brain.

Source.

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Find termites in your home or garden can be a terrifying experience, and there are hundreds of horror stories of people who didn’t find the infestation until it was too late and the home was too structurally damaged to be saved with massive repair bills involved. Prevention is always better than cure and a preventive baiting system such as the Exterra system can save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Especially at this time of year in South East Queensland it’s hot, wet and the perfect time for termites to make their move. With over 80% of homes in the region estimated to have termites in their backyards chances are when you’re out gardening or tidying up the yard you might find some active termites, BUT DON’T PANIC!

Termite infestations are often discovered by accident, and it is of vital importance that you act quickly to ensure you prevent any further damage from occurring. If you notice any of the signs of termite activity such as mud tubes, or bubbling paint or if you are outdoors and physically see the termite nest or ants that appear white in colour there are a few simple things you can do to minimise the risk of spread.

DO NOT SPRAY THEM! Your first instinct will be to spray the termites with a surface spray or insect spray, this will make a termite eradication specialist’s job much more difficult. All effective termite eradication methods work by finding live termites and tricking them to bringing poison back to their nest, killing the whole network of termites in one go. Termites are smart and when they detect a fast acting poison such as a bug spray they will never return to that area and plan another method of attack on your home.

DO NOT DISTURB THEM! You may have found them while digging in the garden, or maybe you have found there mud tubes in or around your home, and you will be tempted to clean up the mess. But it is of vital importance that you don’t, when termites feel threatened by thing such as part of the nest system being disturbed they block off all access to the next and go into hiding. This will prevent and delay the effective treatment of the termites and end up costing you more money in the long run.

BUT I HAVE ALREADY DISTURBED THEM! Keep calm and don’t panic, this is a common way that termites are discovered is when you accidentally disturb them. Make sure you don’t disturb them any further make sure everyone in your household knows not to go near them or touch them (including your pets). There are still a number of effective termite eradication methods available if you have already disturbed the termites, just make sure you call a qualified termite control company to assess the situation and implement the most effective eradication methods for your situation.

Finding termites in your property doesn’t need to be a panic situation, by remaining calm and calling a qualified termite specialist as quickly as possible, you substantially reduce the risk of termite long term damage to your home.

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There are many things that can be done to minimise the risk of termites in your house but perhaps the single most important thing you can do to prevent an infestation is to call a plumber. Termite species such as Subterranean Termites rely on the ground moisture to survive, and a leaky pipe can be just what they need to start a colony.

In approximately 90% of all Subterranean Termite infestations we come across major contributing factors have been issues such as poor drainage, leaking pipes or joins and pooling water around or under the house. This creates perfect conditions for termites to set up a colony, all that’s missing is the food which is where your wooden support beams and floor boards come in.

Subterranean Termites account for a majority of termite damage in Australia and are the most common species nationwide with some claims that up to 80% of yards in South- East Queensland containing active colonies. Home insurance policies do not cover damage from Subterranean Termites and it is up to the home owner to protect their house against termites.

Investing in a plumber to do a check of your houses plumbing to investigate leaks pooling bodies of water and poor drainage can hugely minimise the risk of termite infestation when combined with a licensed termite expert.

With the moisture from a leaky pipe or pool of water, the dark poorly ventilated sub-floor and the time frame of your house, you are unknowingly giving termites the perfect environment to flourish.

Subterranean Termites will seek out any wood touching the moist soil they live, to ensuring that all wood is raised off the ground and away from the house, and stored in a manner that it remains dry is vital to the effort of keeping termites away from your home.

More information.

If you require a plumber to check your property for water leaks. Speak to Jetset Plumbing, the most experienced plumbers Brisbane have to offer.

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Everyone knows termites can be expensive and can cause substantial amounts of damage to your house. But termites are also very interesting insects so we have dug up some of the most surprising and interesting facts we could find.

• Termites are like the vampires of nature, they never sleep working 24 hours a day 7 days a week and they can die if exposed to sunlight.
• Termite Queens lay in excess of 40,000 eggs per day
• In Zaire, termites are fried and sold as fast food in street stalls
• In some countries termites are made into cooking oils
• Termites pass more gas than humans and its some of the highest quality methane gas in the world. Due to the high amounts of gas they produce some scientist believe that termites collectively produce more greenhouse gasses each year that all of human industry combined
• Termite nests have been known to contain up to 2 million termites per nest
• Termites contain more protein per gram than beef
• Termite Queens can grow to the size of a pencil in length and live for around 15-25 years
• Fossilised termites show that they first appeared on earth 250 million years ago, approximately 30 million years before dinosaurs
• In Australia one Termite Nest was so large that it measured 10 Meters across and contained over 3 Million termites , it was built so well scientist needed a jackhammer to break it open
• It is estimate that for every human on earth there are over 1000 pounds of termites
• Termites travel about 250 feet from the colony in the hunt for food, that’s the equivalent of you traveling over 7km’s for lunch.
• Although termites are commonly called white ants, they are not ants, they are more closely related to cockroaches, which has led to some people calling them social cockroaches.

What did you find most interesting? Was there something on there you didn’t know? Pull these facts out at the office Christmas party and amazing your friends with the knowledge of termites.

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While you should always get regular termite inspections from a professional licensed termite inspector, there are thing you can check in between inspections to help you protect your home against termites and catch them early if there is a problem.

Checking for Points of Entry

Keep an eye out for areas in which soil comes into direct contact with wood especially if the wood is untreated or part of the physical structure of your home. Termites love moisture, so look for areas where surface water pools, or soil is perpetually wet, especially if the area is touching or very near the foundations of your home. Whilst inspecting your foundation look for cracks in concrete or wood, things like cracked concrete and expansion joints giver termites an easy point of entry.

You should also be looking for mud tunnels on all external wall, this is definite evidence of termite activity. If you have a wooden sub floor inspect the wooden members for evidence of termite damage or mud tunnels. If you have planter box, patio steps or wooden structures attached to the house inspect for termite activity on a regular basis.

Being Aware of Termite Critical Areas

Termites need two things to survive; a food source and moisture, an unfortunately man made structures provide both of those things beautifully. Things such as mulch beds, wood piles, tree stumps, wood fences, wooden decks and patios all provide perfect food sources for termites and should be either removed, or in the case of permanent structures should be inspected regularly.

You should also be aware of areas that supply moisture, such as leaky pipes, downpipes, air-conditioning drip lines and standing water.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of possible places that termite damage can be found, it is intended to help home owners be aware of what to look for and where to look be able to catch termite activity between professional inspections.

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When you believe you have spotted termites in and around your house its can be a daunting experience, instantly fears of thousands of dollars or damage can come to mind. But can you really be sure that what you saw are termites? It’s all ways best to contact a professional termite expert to identify an infestation, as there are many species of termites and they all have different identifying features, so unless you are 100% sure that what you found is not termites its best to seek professional assistance.

The first step to identifying a termite is to catch the termite, if it is a winged insect capture them in a small jar or if it is wingless simply pick it up. Once the insect is caught, look for a broad waist and soft body. Whilst winged ants have a hard body and a narrow waist shape similar to a wasp, winged termites don’t have this narrow waist and don’t have a hard shell on their body.

termites don’t have this narrow waist and don’t have a hard shell on their body. If the insect still has its wings there are a couple of things to look for to help differentiate between ants and termites, ants have three distinctly separate body parts. There abdomen is separated into two distinct body parts by a slender waist, however termites will only have section on their abdomen and their head. With winged termites their two sets of wings are of equal size, as opposed to winged ants whose front wings are larger than the back. The other main identifying factor is the insect’s antennae, termites antennae are relatively straight and short, when compared to the bent or “elbowed” antennae of ants.

But not all termites have wings and you may have stumbled across a mud tube or a next in your house or yard, there are some easy ways to help you identify a worker or soldier termite from an ant. The same rules as with winged termites apply for non-winged termites when it comes to the abdomen, termites only have one abdomen section whilst ants have two. Worker termites are white and almost transparent in colouration, they look the most like traditional ants which is where they get the name “white ants” however they still follow the same rules in regards to number of abdomen sections and lack of bend in the antennae. Soldier Termites have much larger heads and large mandibles, their heads are often a darker orange or brown colour whilst still having a white body.

Identifying termites is difficult and requires years of training and experience. A skilled termite expert is able to identify termites in an instant as well as identify which specific species you have and what is the best way to treat them. Remember if you have any doubt as to if the insect you found are termites or not call a professional termite control expert to give you the peace of mind you need.

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