RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Did you know that termites cause up to $2 billion in damage per year! Here's more interesting termite facts!

• Termites are actually present in about 70% parts of the world, and its population outnumbers human beings on a ratio of ten to one.
• Termite colonies can reach up several millions of termites and most properties have multiple colonies on them.
• Contrary to popular belief, wood which has been pressure treated is not immune to termite attack; termites will enter pressure-treated wood through cut ends and cracks, and will also build tunnels over the surface.
• Termites build the largest nests of any insect.
• Termites can feed off wood as well as off paper and paper products such as books, insulation and parts of swimming pools, including a pool's liner and filtration system.
• Every termite colony has a social system. The queen and king termites are at the top of the colony, and their roles are to help the colony reproduce.
• Termite royalty is unique in the insect world because they can live for several decades. Queens can live 50 years under the right conditions.
• Termites have lived on Earth for approximately 250 million years.
• In addition to having a queen and king, termite colonies also have soldiers with bulbous heads and big jaws to protect the colony. Worker termites perform other functions such as taking care of the queen and gathering food.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

It was an all you can eat buffet at the bank. An army of termites munched through 10 million rupees ($222,000) in currency notes stored in a steel chest at a bank, police in northern India said Friday.

The bank manager discovered the damage when he opened the reinforced room in an old bank building on Wednesday, police officer Navneet Rana told The Associated Press.

"It's a matter of investigation how termites attacked bundles of currency notes stacked in a steel chest," he said. The money was put in the chest in January.

The termites had damaged bank furniture and documents in the past.

The police have registered a case of negligence against bank officials in Barabanki, a town 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital. In India, police register a case before opening an investigation.

Source = Yahoo News

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Termites and Carpenter Ants Drove Tiger's Ex to Demolish $12 Million Mansion

Finally, an explanation why Elin Nordegren, Tiger Woods' ex-wife, bulldozed the $12 million oceanfront mansion she bought only last year.

Her builder told People magazine the 17,000 foot, six bedroom home in North Palm Beach, Fla. wasn't built to code to withstand Florida hurricanes. To top it off, Habitat for Humanity found the place was crawling with termites and carpenter ants. So it made more sense structurally and economically to tear it down and start over with a new home.

The 32-year-old Nordegren, who's living nearby with her and Woods' two children, invited the charity to salvage tens of thousands of dollars worth of cabinets, hardware and fixtures before sending in the wrecking crew. Said Habitat's director of deconstruction, Bobbi Blodgett: When we pulled out the windows, the bugs were everywhere... To rebuild that house would have been ridiculous. We're so grateful to Elin. It's rare we get this kind of donation.

Nordegren got $100 million in her divorce from Woods so she can afford it. She never shared the demolished mansion with Woods, who recently appeared as an honorary captain for his alma mater Stanford at the Fiesta Bowl.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Termites May Help Solve Fuel Crisis

One of the peskiest household pests, while disastrous to homes, could prove to be a boon for cars, according to a Purdue University study.

Mike Scharf, the Chair in Molecular Physiology and Urban Entomology, said his laboratory has discovered a cocktail of enzymes from the guts of termites that may be better at getting around the barriers that inhibit fuel production from woody biomass. The Scharf Laboratory found that enzymes in termite guts are instrumental in the insects' ability to break down the wood they eat.

The findings, published in the early online version of the journal PLoS One, are the first to measure the sugar output from enzymes created by the termites themselves and the output from symbionts, small protozoa that live in termite guts and aid in digestion of woody material.

"For the most part, people have overlooked the host termite as a source of enzymes that could be used in the production of biofuels. For a long time it was thought that the symbionts were solely responsible for digestion," Scharf said. "Certainly the symbionts do a lot, but what we've shown is that the host produces enzymes that work in synergy with the enzymes produced by those symbionts. When you combine the functions of the host enzymes with the symbionts, it's like one plus one equals four."

Scharf and his research partners separated the termite guts, testing portions that did and did not contain symbionts on sawdust to measure the sugars created.

Once the enzymes were identified, Scharf and his team worked with Chesapeake Perl, a protein production company in Maryland, to create synthetic versions. The genes responsible for creating the enzymes were inserted into a virus and fed to caterpillars, which then produce large amounts of the enzymes. Tests showed that the synthetic versions of the host termite enzymes also were very effective at releasing sugar from the biomass.

They found that the three synthetic enzymes function on different parts of the biomass.

Two enzymes are responsible for the release of glucose and pentose, two different sugars. The other enzyme breaks down lignin, the rigid compound that makes up plant cell walls.

Lignin is one of the most significant barriers that blocks the access to sugars contained in biomass. Scharf said it's possible that the enzymes derived from termites and their symbionts, as well as synthetic versions, could be more effective at removing that lignin barrier.

Sugars from plant material are essential to creating biofuels. Those sugars are fermented to make products such as ethanol.

"We've found a cocktail of enzymes that create sugars from wood," Scharf said. "We were also able to see for the first time that the host and the symbionts can synergistically produce these sugars."

Next, Scharf said his laboratory and collaborators would work on identifying the symbiont enzymes that could be combined with termite enzymes to release the greatest amount of sugars from woody material. Combining those enzymes would increase the amount of biofuel that should be available from biomass.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Chesapeake Perl funded the research.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Termites Cause $120M Damage to GTA Homes Yearly

They may be tiny, but they cause huge problems for homeowners.

Termites cause an estimated $120 million in property damage annually in the Toronto area alone, inflicting serious structural damage to homes and dropping neighborhood property values by up to 25%, according to the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association.

"The reality is that termites are aggressive and difficult to prevent," says Paul Hargest, president of the CCMPA. "And while masonry alone won't eliminate them, it can help act as a barrier by minimizing the home's wood-soil contact — a key point of entry for termites. It also makes the house overall a less attractive food source and helps keep it structurally sound."

Termites are indigenous only to British Columbia, but their resilience has enabled them to thrive in areas like Toronto. They were introduced to the city in 1938 via cargo from the U.S.; today, infestation estimates for the GTA are as high as 10%, estimates the association.

The CCMPA is concerned by Canada’s building codes, which are currently under review to allow for six story structures made of wood. In addition to being a food source for termites, such structures also bring with them greater risks related to hazards such as fire, Hargest said.

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

The second and third floors of the building are rid of the termite infestation that was discovered last summer as two new wooden columns support the roof.

Steel girders are being put in place to run along the existing trusses to permanently take the load of the roof.

"Basically, the entire roof sits on these five trusses," said Roger H. Rendelman, Lee County administrator. "And the trusses hold up the roof along with all the mechanical stuff like the sprinkler system."

The termite problem has forced repairs that have totaled an estimated $400,000. Those costs are covered under the bond of the building, according to Rendelman.

The trusses in the attic of Lee County Courthouse were slowly being eaten away by the infamous Formosan Termite.

"It is definitely Formosan Termites that caused the severe damage to the courthouse," said Dr. Xing Ping Hu, a professor of Entomology at Auburn University and expert on infestations. "The courthouse was renovated in 1976, so it only takes a little more than 20 to 30 years to get to this point again."

Formosan colonies number in the millions, and a Formosan queen can produce 2,000 eggs a day for 15 years.

"The No. 1 factor to attract an infestation of Formosan Termites is moisture," Dr. Hu said. "The courthouse in Opelika had openings where moisture was seeping into the insulation and attracting the termites.

"Good news is, if you keep the building dry with no leaking problem from the roof from anywhere, then the termite will not get back into the attic."

Formosans were an introduced species that came from over seas by ship after World War II to Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and New Orleans.

"When they first got to this country, they were misidentified," Dr. Hu said. "No one knew what they were until the population got out of control and the damage was so severe in all the port cities of the South."

The termites cause almost $1 billion in damages yearly, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The majority of that damage has occurred in densely populated areas such as Opelika, and it is not exclusive to the courthouse.

Opelika, under the leadership of Mayor Gary Fuller, has created a termite committee to deal with the Formosan invasion.

"We are doing work on it," Fuller said. "We've gotten several groups involved—the chamber of commerce, the city and the downtown redevelopment authority. We gotta get the property owners involved."

Location = auburnvillager.com

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Termite Guts Could Lead to Bio-fuel Production

Different enzymes found in the digestive systems of termites could overcome current obstacles associated with creating fuel from wood biomass

Purdue University researchers have discovered that enzymes found in a termite's digestive system could aid in biofuel production from woody biomass.

Mike Scharf, study leader and O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Chair in Molecular Physiology and Urban Entomology, and a team of Purdue University researchers, have found that different enzymes found in the guts of termites could overcome current obstacles associated with creating fuel from wood biomass.

Scharf and his team decided to investigate termites since they eat wood, and the wood is obviously digested within these insects. The team measured the sugar output from enzymes that are created by the termites as well as output from symbionts, which are tiny protozoa that reside within termites that help digest wood. For a long time, scientists thought symbionts were the only ones responsible for digestion until the Purdue team further investigated enzymes created by the termite host.

Termite digestive systems were separated and tested based on sections that contained and did not contain symbionts on sawdust "to measure the sugars created." The team found the different enzymes, and worked to create synthetic versions with Chesapeake Perl, which is a company that produces proteins. The genes, which created the enzymes, were placed into a virus and given to caterpillars to eat, and increased amount of the enzymes were produced.

The researchers found that the synthetic versions were capable of releasing sugar from the biomass, and also discovered that the three synthetic enzymes work on different areas of the biomass. Two of the enzymes release two different sugars -- glucose and pentose -- while the third enzyme breaks down lignin, which is a compound that makes up plant walls and is one of the toughest barriers that prevents the access to sugars in biomass.

"For the most part, people have overlooked the host termite as a source of enzymes that could be used in the production of biofuels," said Scharf. "For a long time it was thought that the symbionts were solely responsible for digestion. Certainly the symbionts do a lot, but what we've shown is that the host produces enzymes that work in synergy with the enzymes produced by those symbionts. When you combine the functions of the host enzymes with the symbionts, it's like one plus one equals four."

Accessing the sugar from plants is vital for the production of biofuels since these sugars are fermented to make ethanol. This new enzyme cocktail will allow these sugars to be created from wood, hence represents a step closer to alternative fuel production.

The next step is to find symbiont enzymes that can be mixed with termite enzymes to produce larger amounts of sugar from wood.

This study was published in PLoS One.

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

• Termites cause up to $2 billion in damage per year!
• All Termites are social insects and raise their young as a group.
• The total weight of all of the termites in the world is more than the weight of all the humans in the world.
• Termites have been around since the time of the dinosaurs!
• Termite colonies eat non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week!
• Termites have wings that they shed once they have found a good place to build a nest.
• Live for 15 years.
• Lay 1 egg every 15 seconds.
• Burrow tiny mud tunnels to a source of wood.
• Enjoy wood resulting from leaky plumbing & other water sources.
• Found in every U.S. state except Alaska.
• Help the food chain by recycling wood for the soil.
• Termites have lived on Earth for approximately 250 million years.

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Many people ask why we use termite monitors around people's homes, this video is a great example of why.

As you can see, termites were found on the monitors before they got to the home.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

TERMITES WILL COST YOU SEVERELY IF YOU WAIT

Every year, termites cause billions of dollars in damage to homes, offices and other structures; early detection is the best weapon against these costly insects. It is NOT covered by insurance!

Every year, business owners and homeowners pay out billions of dollars for damages caused by termites.

It can be difficult to impossible for an average person to uncover termites on their own. You need a professional inspection. This is one area where you have to choose a company with experience & expertise because the ramifications can be severe.

Data collected over the last 100yrs suggest that 8 of 10 homes in Massachusetts & Rhode Island have had termites in the past or will have them in the future. The other issue is that past inspections do not ensure that you are safe from termites, you should have your structure inspected annually or at least every other year.

Termites are sneaky & avoid detection by eating wood from the inside out. They also can fit in a void that is 1/64” which means they can be virtually impossible to detect. Last piece of bad news is that structures that get treated can become re-infested over time. You should always maintain your annual termite warranty and make sure annual inspections are performed. The cost of waiting to control termites could be devastating since the repair costs will greatly outweigh the cost of control.

The best defense is having a professional firm like EHS offering proactive monitoring like they have with their Eco-Monitors or the Sentricon Colony Elimination System.

Tim Lynch
Termite Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA