Wood Termites

Wood Termites can be described as termites that cause infections in wet and dry woods by feasting on the wood. They draw out the require moisture they need while eating through the wood. Wood termites are distinctively divided into two. These are; The wood dependent and the soil dependent termites. The wood inhabiting termites are primitive in nature and they are not as organized as the soil tunneling termites. Wood Termites attack wood and cause serious damages. The wood become rusty and weak. The piece of wood breaks as the wood termite activities become uncontrollable and untreated.

Wood Termites are from the insect order “Isoptera”, wood termites are usually pale colored, they are small in stature. The soldier and the worker wood Termite do not poccess wings. Fertile males and female wood termites poccess wings and they reproduce younger termites to make their colonies swell up. There is a huge competition for limited space and food ,hence many of the new born are starved to death. The life cycle of the wood termite is such that the queen lay thousands of eggs yearly ,while the worker termites take care of such eggs and nurture them. They feed the young nymphs and make sure that food is available to them for the first few weeks they are given birth to. These nymphs hatch after some weeks and they become the new soldiers, workers or reproductive wood Termites. Wood termites often attack wood materials that are too close to the soil or moist platforms and conditions.

The queen seems to have the longest life span among wood termites. A queen might live between 6- 10 years depending on how healthy it is and the number of eggs she might have laid during her period of years. The entire lifespan of wood Termite does not exceed 12 years.

Wood Termites have several economic benefits, they eat through woods and wooden materials thereby decomposing them. Other factors such as climatic conditions and weather conditions will make the decomposing wood to be absorbed in the soil. The chemical constituents of the decomposed woods will add tremendously to the soil fertility, making agricultural produce grow .

The major signs of wood termite infections include; galleries in the inner part of wood, eggs deposition in and out of the wood, shed wings, piles of fecal pellets and changes in the physical properties of the wood.

Most wood termites will thrive even when there is less than 1% of moisture. That is why some can penetrate into the soil in search of moisture and food. They do die when the external conditions are not favorable. such factors include; extremely low humidity, extreme drought, excessive heat and other human factors such as bush burning.

The best way to keep wood termites away from wood is to protect the wood from getting too close to water or moist conditions. Chemical preservatives can only protect wood termites for some specific period of time, they will still find their way back to the wood.