If for some reason you suspect you have termites, there are some protocols that must always be followed.

If you have discovered crawling insects in your walls that are no more than about 6mm long, are creamy white to an almost transparent grey and some have darker brown heads, there is every chance it will be termites.

Just to confuse things, if the termites have been present for a couple of years or more, they may have become sufficiently established to create and release alates, or swarmers as they are more commonly known in USA. In this case, alates/swarmers have two pair of wings that are longer than the body, and the body will be dark grey to black. See our web site for identification details.

Termites look nothing like ants, despite the fact they are know colloquially as “White Ants”. Usually the activity will be accompanied by tell tale brown mudding material.

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Termites And Global Warming

It is an established fact that termites cause more damage in dollar terms worldwide than the combined ravages of fire, flood, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes combined.

Having come to terms with those statistics, we now have to contemplate the notion that termites are also responsible for 18% of the world’s methane output.

Many people mistakenly believe that Methane, (CH4) causes damage to the globe’s Ozone Layer, but the problem is even worse, because methane is responsible for Global Warming, and that is a far more complex and serious problem.

It’s believed that around 38 % of the greenhouse effect is caused by methane, putting it second on the list of offending gases behind carbon dioxide. Methane breaks down in the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide, ozone, and water, all of which absorb heat. The temperature of the atmosphere rises, the ice caps melt, and before you know it, you’re pumping the Pacific out of your cellar.

Termites release an estimated 80 billion kilograms of “Greenhouse gas” per year.

Considering that there is an estimated 240 quadrillion termites scurrying about the planet, that’s 60 million of those insect pests for every man, woman and child, and that the billions of tiny, burrowing Isoptera are “letting rip” every second of every day.

There are more than 2000 different species of termites and the amounts of methane produced varies considerably between species, with some producing no methane at all. Methane is produced in termite guts, by symbiotic bacteria and protozoa, during food digestion.

The primary impact of humans on termite methane is reduction of emissions through termite habitat destruction. Many of the most important methane producing termite species are found in tropical forest areas, huge swathes of which are destroyed each year for logging, agriculture and housing developments. Additionally, in North America and elsewhere colonies of termites are regularly exterminated due to the threat they pose to wooden structures.

It is estimated that tropical forests, grasslands, and savannahs of Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America regions contribute approximately 80% of global termite emissions.

Who would have thought that having annual termite inspections, installing termite baits and monitors and all other available strategies would assist in minimising our “Carbon Footprint?

Subterranean Termite Swarmers

Don’t be alarmed…be informed.

BACKGROUND

From October through to late March, termite swarmers, more correctly named “Alates” will be noticed on those hot humid afternoons. Termites are normally white to almost transparent, wingless and totally blind, however Alates are specially produced reproductives with black pigment, wings and eyes, and their single task is to find a mate of the opposite sex and set up a home in a decayed log or stump where the female can lay a couple of dozen eggs, raise the babies and then allow the new brood to take over the care and maintenance of the new colony. The queen then goes about producing literally millions of eggs for the next 20 to 30 years.

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