Where Do Termites Come From? How do they get into a house?

Some of the most destructive insects to have in a neighbor of homes where there is lots of rotted wood and trees are termites. Termites build large colonies under dry grounds that tunnel for miles and miles.

For this reason is makes termites extremely difficult to get rid from a particular area. It is always wise to choose a home in a neighborhood where termite damage has not occurred. Doing so will save your family as well as yourself the hassle of trying to rid termites from your home, this can sometimes be impossible to do even with exterminators.

Table of Contents

  1. What Exactly Are Termites?
  2. Where Do Termites Come From?
  3. How Can You Prevent a Home or Business from Termite Damage?
  4. What are the Ways Termites are Exterminated From a Property?
  5. Now You Know Where do Termites Come From
  6. Additional Resources

What Exactly Are Termites?

Termites are small insects similar to ants where they live in colonies and have self-organized systems that include workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both sexes and queens.

The only difference is termites are detritivores, which means termites strictly eat dead plants and trees or other cellulose materials. Termites are approximately a few millimeters in length with white clear bodies.

Some of the different termites that love infecting old dead wood are damp wood termites, drywood termites, Formosan termites, subterranean termites, and cone head termites. All types have long skinny bodies, six legs, two antennas, elongated heads and pinchers for chewing. 

Some termites, depending on their sex and caste, sprout wings to help them fly around in the springtime and find new places to establish new colonies and eat old dead trees. These insects even love warm a bright area where there is lots of dead wood is also a huge attraction for termite to begin infestations.

Where Do Termites Come From?

You may believe that termites come from old rotted wood, but this is simply what they dine on when they are hungry. Subterranean termites come from the ground where they live, build massive colonies, and take care of the queen termites.

These colonies typically love building in areas where there are large timber trees and dead stumps that are rotting away. Termites carry themselves from place to place by flying on windy days where they can travel about fifty feet at a time.

During their travels they will land, stop, and build new colonies where they feel best, which could be under your home or business or even in your buildings structure such as old rotted windows, doors, beams, and windowpanes.

How Can You Prevent a Home or Business from Termite Damage?

To avoid termite damage, you must prevent termite infestation. You can prevent termite infestations by keeping the soil and grounds around your home from remaining continuously moist and by treating it often with a liquid insecticide. Installing termite baiting systems can also help keep termites away and from creating a huge issue within homes and business structures. 

Replacing old rotted wood, panels and beams before an infestation occurs can also help prevent damage to your home or business from termite chewing and eating. Early detection of an initial termite infestation is your best action against getting rid of them with a professional termination team educated in termite exterminating termites from your properly.

What are the Ways Termites are Exterminated From a Property?

If you suspect you have a termite infestation one of the questions you should be answering is, “where do termites come from?” Knowing where the insects are coming from can help you locate the termite “nest” and kill the pests properly with insecticides, which may require several treatments of insecticide in order to rid them completely.

If the infestation has invaded your homes structure you are going to need to access more than where do termites come from, but how large is the termite nest and infestation.

Other questions you will should ask is, “did the termites chew through all the boards of my business or home’s structure? Or are only certain parts of my business or home damaged?” If the termites got to most of the wooden structure of your home or business, you might need to tear your home or business down and rebuild.

This is because termite damage can be so severe it causes structures to collapse, or makes it difficult to completely rid them from the area you wish to rid them from without removing all the chewed old wood.

Sometimes it is best just to leave the termite-infested area, and build elsewhere since the insects are relentless and have such a massive infestation in that particular area that is impossible to get rid of with pesticides and other methods alone.

Now You Know Where do Termites Come From

If you ever experience termites in or around your home, it is time to call a termite exterminating expert to help you determine how bad the infestation is and what you can do to treat it. If you can, always have a home or business inspection done before purchasing a building, so you do not end up with a termite infestation that costs you endless amounts of money before everything is remedied.

In fact, in many places getting a termite inspection done on a property is required by law before the purchase of the home. Sometimes trying to answer the questions of, “where do termites come from?” can be difficult since subterranean termites can live anywhere underneath the ground where they are difficult to detect.

Add to that the fact that drywood termites reach a stage of life where they sprout wings and fly in search of good real estate for establishing a new colony and it become apparent that these little critters are tough to deal with on your own.

Additional Resources

  1. Habit and Control of Termites – University of Illinois
  2. Signs of Termites Coming From the Ground Into Your Home
  3. How do Termites Get Around?

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