Do Flying Termites Eat Wood
Do flying termites eat wood? Flying termites can be seen emerging from existing termite infestations in-home, giving it away as a possible sign of a future or existing problem with other types of wood-destroying pests.
They bear a striking resemblance to flying ants, but they are not ants by any means; and while they may look harmless and innocent on the surface.
In reality, they’re out to damage your home one way or another. Termites of all types will eat and destroy wood if given half a chance except for one kind.
Do Flying Termites Eat Wood
Flying termites don’t eat wood, but they can drill into wooden structures to set up a home.
More importantly, they can easily become a nuisance if you let them invade your home by flying through holes in the wall or other openings found in wooden structures like windows.
What Causes Flying Termites?
Not every termite colony has unlimited space, and the flying termites must make do with what they already have.
Some leave their current nest seeking a new home, a structure to call their own — one built by an unrelated family of wood-munching insects nearby.
As a migrating swarm leaves its nest searching for better spaces, it flies out looking for a new place for its colony.
If you see some dead flying termites in your home or broken wings, that may indicate something unpleasant has been taking place inside it.
It’s time to sound the alarm if you find dead ants on your floor or within your home, as there could be hundreds if not thousands of them nesting somewhere in your walls, ceilings, or crawl spaces.
How Long Do Flying Termites Live?
Flying termites have an average life expectancy of as little as 1-2 hours given that they are in the air. If they reach the honeycomb (the end destination), they can live for up to 2 years.
Everything depends on where these winged insects suddenly appear! They travel the length between the nest and your home in broad daylight, and that’s when you notice those flying termites all over your home’s floor throughout their swarm!
Inside the termite nest, worker termites and soldier termites can live for two years, while the queen of the colony can outlive every other termite by a whopping 10.
Like her offspring, she will lay hundreds of eggs over this time, sustaining a steady source of food for her offspring and maintaining no less than one constantly active colony for years.
What is the Termite Swarming Season?
When insects live in your home, the place you spend most of your time should be spotless and bug-free for your comfort.
Indeed, the products marketed for bug control work best when used to get rid of termites during bug control treatments.
Different kinds of termites invade homes during the swarming season:
- Dry wood termites tend to swarm in the middle of late summer and fall as evening approaches and go after artificial light sources.
- Subterranean termites swarm in broad daylight during spring.
- Damp wood termites swarm during summer.
Installing window shields with fine mesh can keep these bugs out (as well as other pests)—it can also protect windows and doors from being broken or damaged while they’re open during swarming season.
Is it possible to bite flying termites?
No, flying termites don’t have teeth to bite humans or animals. However, since flying termites have a relatively short lifespan – second only to queen termites.
And need to find a mate and start a colony of their own before dying (most male varieties die within about 24 hours after mating with the queen), this might lead you to think that they bite others when in reality, they are physically incapable of doing so.
Are flying termites able to eat wood?
A termite has a way of living out its life cycle. First, they are nomadic – they can’t be permanently settled in one place.
Now, there is a limitation to this when it comes to finding food – these insects aren’t equipped with a digestive system or other methods of processing food for nourishment.
The next thing that happens after a mating season is that the heads and wings of these insects are shed at the same time, which creates an opening.
So that they can drill their way into wood using the mandibles located at the front of their head to infest new wooden structures beneath your feet.
How to get rid of Flying Termites In And Around Your Home?
Contact a termite exterminator today to schedule a live inspection of your home to be sure you have no termites or signs of termite infestations.
Though it’s possible to make a DIY approach and even attempt DIY treatments involving things like boric acid, if you see live flying termites around your home, it’s best to call an experienced exterminator.
Conclusion
Flying termites do not eat wood, and they bore into wooden structures to make a home. Now, you may know this, but you may not know all the differences between termites, like carpenter ants and other flying insects that look like termites. For more information, explore the content we’ve collected in our post on the bugs that look like flying termites.
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