If you've noticed bugs flying around your home lately, you should find out if they're termites. It's easy to mistake them for ants, so you'll want to examine the bugs, and look for other signs of a termite infestation before they damage your home. These are the signs you should look for.
Identify The Bugs
Termites are the size of big ants. From a distance, they look a lot like flying ants. When you look closely, you'll notice the difference. The bodies of ants have distinct segments, and they have slender waists. Termites also have segmented bodies, but because they have a wide waist area, their bodies appear to be one solid part. Ants also have curved antennae, while the antennae of termites are straight, just like their straight bodies. Their wings are different too. Termites have straight wings of equal size, while the wings on ants look curved because they are different lengths.
Test For Soft Wood
Termites chew the wood in your home, so if you suspect an area has damage, you can press on the wood, or push a screwdriver into it to see if it is hard or soft. If the wood crumbles, you may see termites or their tunnels inside the wood. Keep in mind, the damage will probably be under the top layer of wood, so you usually won't be able to tell if there is termite damage just by looking at the wood's surface. As termites chew the wood, they leave behind droppings in piles that look like sawdust. This is called frass, and it is a clear indication you have termites.
Look For Mud Tunnels
Termites love moisture. That's one reason they are so drawn to your home if you have damp wood. They protect themselves from drying out by building mud tubes to travel from the ground to your home. Examine the exterior of your home along the foundation. If you see tubes of dirt or mud that run from the soil, over the concrete foundation, to the wood part of your home, you can be pretty sure you have a termite problem.
If you can't find any obvious signs of a termite infestation, but want to have peace of mind after seeing unusual flying bugs in your home, then you should call a termite exterminator for an inspection. An experienced professional, one like Paramount Exterminating Co, can determine quite easily if you have a bug problem, and if it is termites or ants. The last thing you want to do is ignore the problem and hope the bugs won't multiply. Termites do too much damage to be ignored. You should have your home treated once they've been discovered.
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