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May 29th, 2008

"WHAT'S BUGGING YOU"
TERMITES, part 1
By Frank Lorey,
Corky's Pest Control

As they say in California-you are either living in a house with termites, or in one that is going to have termites. Termites always cause a great deal of worry and expense for homeowners. The discovery of hard rounded pellets, partially eaten wood areas, or mud tubes going up the walls will signal a real headache for most people. Corky's can help-but first you need to be sure that they really are termites that you are seeing. Often people will mistake "flying ants" for termites, but it can also go the other way-you may think they are only ants, but you have termites.

Ants and termites have a variety of characteristics that can help in telling the difference between them, but you will have to look closely. The flying and swarming variety of both the ants and termites obviously have wings, and they may also have basically the same size and coloring. Termites, however, always have wings that are longer than the body, while ant wings are about the same length as the body. Ants have bodies that are clearly segmented into three parts, while termites have a body with no obvious segments. If you look very closely, ants have antennas that are bent like an elbow, while termites have straight antennas. There are two main types of termites causing the problems in our area-the Subterranean termite, and the Drywood termite.

SUMMARY OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANTS AND TERMITES:

• Ant wings are about the same length as the body, termites have wings that are longer than the body.
• Ants have bodies that are clearly segmented into three parts, termites have a body with no distinct segments.
• Ants have antennas that are bent like an elbow, termites have straight antennas.

There are vastly different ways to treat the two main types of termite infestations. Corky's can actually prevent Subterranean termites from inhabiting your house by trenching around the foundation and applying Termidor into the trenches. Termidor is the #1 treatment used nationally to combat the Subterranean termite. Once they get in, the treatment situation becomes much worse-often requiring drilling holes in the foundation and injecting chemicals underneath.

Drywood termites often infest the attic spaces and rafter tails on the outside of the house. While fumigation used to be the only effective method to deal with Drywood termites, now Corky's can offer the ThermaPureHeat treatment, and you don't even have to leave your house. The termites are killed using 130-degree air, so no chemicals are involved, and no moving out is required. If you see shed wings on the ground, or mud tubes, or piles of small hard pellets, call Corky's immediately at 1-800-325-7805. Next time, a closer look at the two types of termites.