A termite is a primitive, wingless, social insect in the order blattaria. The dampwood termite gets its name because it lives entirely within wood, and doesn’t form outside colonies the way other species of termites do.
This makes it a very severe pest in homes and other wooden structures because the damage it does is usually not discovered until it’s either irreparable or the cost to repair the damage is immense. TermiGuard, the professional pest control service based in South New Jersey, has long experience in eradicating this scourge of homeowners.
What is a Dampwood Termite
The dampwood termite is brownish, with gray wings, and can be from .9 to one inch long. The soldiers, who protect the colony, have large, reddish heads with large, toothed jaws. They have antennae but are eyeless, and communicate through chemical signals.
Unlike other termites, dampwood termites don’t have a caste system. The younger termites do the work on the colony, like tending the queens and eggs. As they mature, they become soldiers, then reproductives. When that happens, a reproductive pair leaves the colony and begins their own colony elsewhere.
Cellulose is the mainstay of all termite diets, and it’s found readily in wood. Microbes in the termite’s gut help it digest cellulose.
What is a subterranean termite?
Another destructive termite is the subterranean termite, a much smaller termite that can grown from .24 to .3 inches long. This termite needs a foundation in the ground in order to be able to build up into wooden structures.
They will even build pathways across concrete and asphalt in order to get to a source of wood that’s buried in the ground. These termites do form worker and soldier castes. Again, TermiGuard’s termite treatment services can eradicate these type of termites as well.
Any termite colony revolves around their queens, whose only job is to lay eggs. Some queens can lay 2,000 eggs daily. Unlike a honeybee hive, which can only tolerate one queen at a time, a termite colony might have a few queens. Soon after mating she becomes so swollen with eggs that she can barely move, and her grooming and feeding are the job of the worker termites.
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