If you think you have a termite problem, well look at the kind of problem you might have. I took this photo in Mexico at a small island off Cancun. When I went into the city park I could not believe my eyes. This makes a caterpillar infestation look like the fun of attending the Ringling Brother Circus. There was tree after tree after tree that looked just like this. These particular termites, and I have the name somewhere, are a type of subterranean termite. That means they live in the ground. However, in this case they obviously kind of like hanging in the trees too. They did not give me the extra treat that day, but I read that the park employees will tear the mound open and you can watch the cute, sweet, adorable termite workers patch it back up. Now, that said, I will actually give you a bit of insider termite investigator information that you might find useful. As an instructor of wood destroying organisms it is one of those little tidbits of generally not practical information that I know. Here goes: If you find mud shelter tubes (lowest photo for some that are not so subtle), say under your own home, and you wonder if they are still being used or if they are ancient, here is what to do. Make a ding in them, like break a piece out. Go back down in a few weeks. If the damage has been repaired they are working. If the damage is not repaired, they are gone. They are good workers so they will diligently make repairs if using the shelter tube. Obviously, if you found several mud tubes, you would do that with all of them. I have all sorts of little tips like that which are, for me inspecting houses, kind of useless in that the time line is too long. I have a great way to figure out if anobiid beetles are still working, but it takes another visit about a year later. There are similar tips on tracking carpenter ants but they are easier to discover and tend to be visible to the homeowner as they look for sweets in the house.
Cancun termites calling
Mud tubes for the masses
Thanks for tunneling in
Steven L. Smith
Washington State Licensed Structural Pest Inspector
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