How to IdentifyTermite Activity

Evidence of Drywood Termite Activity:

Drywood Termite Frass: Frass is the droppings that drywood termites leave behind after eating the wood inside a structure. The termites will kick the frass out of small holes in the wood to help keep their galleries clear. You will find frass in small cone-shaped piles, sometimes underneath furniture, inside the attic, or piled up near your windowsills. Frass is shaped like small grains of rice or pepper and the pellets themselves are typically light tan or yellowish in color, though this can vary depending on the type and color of the wood the termites are eating.

Drywood Termite Swarmer Wings: Once flying termites or “alates” are done flying or swarming they will land on the ground and shed their wings. Drywood termite wings are long and narrow and they are rounded at the tip and taper down to the point where they had attached to the termite’s body. The wings themselves are translucent, or see-through, and will sometimes have a cloudy or silvery sheet to them when they reflect light. Unlike ant wings, all four wings of a drywood termite are the same size and shape. You will often find termite wings on your windowsills or underneath lights in your home, as the swarming termites are attracted to the lights they see during their brief flight.

Termite Gallery Kickout Holes: When termites swarm and infest a piece of wood, they create galleries or narrow tunnels through the wood that they use to travel through the wood while remaining safe from the elements and potential predators. This maze like structure is expanded and branches off as the termite colony grows and finds new food to eat (the wood inside the home!) During this process, the termites will create small kick-out holes that they use to clear the galleries of digested wood (the frass mentioned above). These galleries weaken the wood and can cause damage to furniture in the home and the structure of the house itself.