Facts About North American Termites

Facts About North American Termites

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There are six termites that are common to the USA. Formosan termites usually eat a little less than an average termite but there are also bigger colonies of them around. Average termite colonies can reach up to 200,000 while the Formosan termite colonies can reach up to 500,000 termites.

Regular termites eat up to about 16 grams of food a day which figures out to be almost 13 pounds of food a year while Formosan termites can eat more than double that in a year.

Termites do not eat in only one place at a time they generally eat in a few places at once. They do not feed on only one thing in nature but actually have multiple food sources at once sometimes. They often move from one food source to another staying on one spot long enough to ingest a decent amount of food. The food eventually gets broken down into energy for the termites until they can make it to there next food source. Termites actually spend more time hiking than eating because they often takes much longer for them to digest their food than it does to ingest it.

Over a long period of time termites can do significant damage to your house due to the fact that there main food source is wood. Although they only eat small amounts at once they do cause severe damage and will continue to eat at the wood of your home for years and years and they will continue to reproduce and eat the wood that either surrounds or holds up your house.

Wood can and does eventually hollow out and termites will make a home inside your home and just constantly eat away at your wood a little bit at a time. Although it may take long for them to actually cause damage if is is a big colony that has nestled itself inside your home than you could be looking at more damages quicker for the simple fact that there are so many in the colony.

Termites cause over 2 billion dollars worth of damages a year to homes and businesses because of there capability to eat through your wood. Although termites are soft bodied creatures they have the capability to chew through wood and digest it causing them to eat the wood in and around your home.

A colony of 60,000 termites have the ability to chew through a foot long size of two by four in just four short months. The bigger the colony the more wood they need as a food source and the more they destroy your home.

About the Author:
Termites are a constant threat for many homeowners, so it is important that they know the signs of termites and how to get rid of termites if they have them.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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