Subterranean termites are known throughout the world with an array of monikers, such as termites, woodworms, wood ants, and white ants. While the United States typically terms these ubiquitous insects as termites, many other countries in the world refer to them as white ants.
Despite their name, white ants are not eponymous insects. In fact, they are not ants at all. The term “white ants” is merely just another popular term for the widely-known insects known as termites. Termites have relatively long lifespans and a colony’s queen can hold a lifespan of up to 50 years.
This is in stark comparison to the shorter lifespan of ants. Differences between the two insects are also found by comparing their metamorphosis cycles, with ants undergoing complete metamorphosis while termites, in comparison, undergo an incomplete metamorphosis that goes through the egg, then nymph, then adult stage.
White ants (termites) are distinct from other insects in that their colonies are among the most auspicious to be found on the face of the Earth, with white ant colonies found on every continent with the exception of Antartica. Having been in existence for millions of years across the globe, white ants are a highly evolved species that have developed with time into a resilient seemingly irrepressible group that populates into immense numbers within underground subterranean colonies.
In modern times, white ants have made a resurgence in growth, due much in part to our widespread societal use of building materials including wood, bark, mulch and more—to the horror of many homeowners who has gone through a full-blown termite infestation.
These materials are highly attractive to white ants and will cause these insects to situate themselves in locales close to areas where there is an abundance of these kinds of materials. They will then subsequently start nesting and breeding, to eventually come out in a massive swarm and infiltrate our household areas both inside and out.
White ants are a powerful force to be reckoned with and termite control is essential. Deadly persistent and characteristically destructive, temite infestations must be dealt with swiftly and efficiently to ensure the safety of your household now and for years to come.
Read On Below To Learn More Valuable Information In Our Destructive White Ant Pest Control Guide.
Anyone who has ever dealt with white ants knows just how destructive these insects are to homes and buildings alike. Once a white ant infestation occurs, the mass of bugs will feast on the presence of wood and any other material attractive to their palates.
These termites operate in a systematic fashion—feasting, nesting, breeding, and swarming are the main elements of a white ants life, and these life stages happen very quickly as their populations explode into incredible numbers. When the presence of white ants is detected through termite inspection, swift corrective action must be undertaken before the white ant colony grows to even larger numbers that will prove to be unmanageable without extensive support from extermination professionals.
If your home is confirmed to have a white ant presence and the population is in beginning stages, you can take on the extermination work by yourself via an array of reliable do-it-yourself pest control methods. Any DIY method you undertake is going to be supplemented with other DIY termite treatment to result in a multi-prong approach that offers the efficacy that one might expect from the work of a professional exterminator.
Regular white ant inspection is critical and should be carried out every year or so. If, however, you carry out a termite inspection and your home is confirmed to have a white ant swarm with a significantly populous amount of white ants, it is highly recommended that you seek out a professional pest control service that can assess the termite damage done and offer white ant treatment to protect your home keeping it safe from future white ant infestations as well as other insects.
Do-it-yourself pest control methods of white ants, or the similar drywood termites and carpenter ants, are widely available on the consumer market, with an assortment of extermination products that offer comprehensive white control and eradication before it becomes a termite infestation.
If you decide to take on a DIY termite pest control approach before it becomes a serious termite problem, start by inspecting your home for white ant infestations and entry point locations, which will assist you in determining the best eradication method for your situation.
Subsequently, decide which method is best for. Some of the more popular DIY white ant eradication methods available right now include termite baits, liquid sprays, pesticides, and termiticides, as well as building physical or chemical white ant barriers. White ant baits are a popular method to eradicate white ants due to its cost-effective pricing and ease of use.
Poisoned baits are highly effective in attracting and killing mass numbers of white ants and is favored among households as a way to kill white ants without using copious (or any) amounts of airborne hazardous chemicals and toxic pesticides. These baits take about two weeks to fully work but will prove to be a highly effective means of white ant eradication and will help you kill significant parts of their populations in your home.
Another highly popular means of DIY white ant extermination is the usage of liquid sprays, pesticides, and termiticides. Consumers using these products will have to exercise caution during their use. Nevertheless, these liquid insect killers are highly effective in eradicating white ant populations in a comprehensive fashion without the need of consulting costly professional extermination companies.
Using white ant liquid sprays is relatively easy and merely requires following manufacturer posted labels for dispensing and applying the liquid within the confines of your home in addition to your home’s exterior. While white ant baits and liquid products used within the home show high degrees of efficacy in killing off white ant populations, no extermination can be classified as completely thorough without extermination efforts taken on the exterior of the home.
Killing off white ant populations in exterior spaces will ensure that the colonies do not return and repopulate your home, resulting in another possible infestation. To prevent white ants from breeding outside of your home, you can build special barriers designed at thwarting white ants from breeding, nesting, and crawling through the dirt directly located outside your home and ultimately making their ways into the various nooks, crannies, and recesses on your home’s walls.
The types of barriers you can install can be either a physical barrier or a chemical barrier. Employed by millions across the globe, white ant barriers offer safety and security from white ants starting from the outside. Physical barriers are made without the use of chemicals and work to circumvent white ant’s efforts to gain access to entry points throughout a property. Sand barriers can be semi-large systems that reach as deep as 4 inches into the ground and can span a perimeter of 20 inches around the property.
Conversely, chemical barriers are barriers formulated with chemical solutions such as termiticides. The use of this type of barrier ensures that white ants are killed by deeply-infused chemicals that stop white ants in their tracks. Due to the long-lasting action of the formula on chemical barriers, this option is highly effective in systematically preventing future white ant populations from coming back into existence.
Professional extermination companies are seen by most households as being the gold standard of white ant eradication. Many people do not employ this method due to worries about cost and personal budget. However, your white ant infestation may prove to be too cumbersome and too involved for you to undertake yourself and the expense of hiring a professional exterminator may have to be considered a necessary expense that ensures the future of your home and safety of your family.
If you are currently having a white ant problem within your household, it’s imperative that you take action immediately. Whether you try your hand at the wide range of do-it-yourself tactics that can yield impressive eradication results or you hire a professional extermination company that will guarantee your home is free from the presence of all white ants, any action that you take will be of immense benefit to beginning the process of reducing white ant populations, retaining the structural integrity of your home, and securing the safety of yourself and your family.