Termites: a $5 billion threat

Although termite species vary throughout the United States, subterranean termites are the type most likely to attack your home. They are social insects that nest in underground colonies. There can be millions of termites in a colony, but you may never see any evidence of them—until a pest management professional discovers they’ve seriously damaged your home. In fact, termites cause more than $5 billion worth of damage each year in the U.S. alone—damage not covered by most homeowner’s insurance.

What do termites look like?
Termites are often mistaken for flying ants, but there are noticeable differences:

  • Both swarming termites and ants have two pairs of wings. Termites front and hindwings are the same shape and size. However, ants front wings are larger than their hindwings.
  • Ants’ antennae are elbowed, while termites’ are straight.
  • Ants have a narrow, pinched waist, while termites’ waists are thicker and less defined.

How can termites enter my home?
Termites can enter homes with as little as 1/32-of-an inch opening. In addition:

  • Termites can follow tree roots and construction conduits such as pipes and footers to gain entry into homes.
  • Termites constantly forage and evaluate the size and quality of food resources as they seek out cellulose.
  • Termites can be in your home for several years with very few visible signs of activity.

How can you tell if termites are present in or near your home?
Unfortunately, there may be no warning signs but look for these:

  • Termites “swarming” during the day and often after rainfall.
  • Termite evidence in or around windows and doorframes.
  • Shelter tubes appearing on or around the foundation.
  • Baseboards and floors which may sound hollow.
  • Dead termites or termite wings on window sills or along
    walls.

The only certain way to determine the presence of termites in your home is with a thorough home inspection from a pest management professional.

How much damage can termites do to your home?
Without annual inspections from a pest management professional, termites can go unnoticed for years while
continuing to damage your home.

  • Termites cause damage in hidden areas, behind walls, in crawl spaces and basements.
  • Unchecked, this damage can be truly devastating, costing individual homeowners thousands of dollars in structural repair.

Termite protection with Advance® Termite Monitoring.

Do I really need a monitoring system if termites aren’t present in my home?

Waiting until termites actually strike to take action to get rid of them is one of the biggest termite control mistakes a homeowner can make. Your home is simply too important, and the potential damages are too great, for a cross-your-fingers-and-wait strategy when it comes to termites.

Advance Termite Monitoring watches over your home 24 hours a day and lets your pest management professional check regularly to make sure termites are not present.

Advance Termite Monitoring stations with termite inspection cartridges are strategically installed around your home. These cartridges contain active-ingredient-free Puri-Cell® monitoring tablets that termites find even more appetizing than wood.

If termites do show up at your home, the monitoring system can reveal their presence to your pest management professional, who will then work with you to determine the best next-step termite treatment strategy for your home and circumstances.

Why choose the Advance® Termite Bait System over other baits?

  • An intelligently designed system, with proven results. Second-generation station design based on input from universities and pest professionals.
  • Offers a major advance in termite baiting technology via a dual-stage process that features termite-preferred food sources and an ultra low disturbance design to pattern termites’ natural feeding behavior, leading to enhanced colony elimination.
  • The large containerized bait load allows for a large amount of bait to be fed to the colony in a short time to eliminate termite colonies faster.
  • A proprietary rugged station locking mechanism that helps to keep children and pets out.
  • Termite bait technology extensively researched by leading university researchers to demonstrate effectiveness in eliminating single and multiple termite colonies.

How does the bait system work?

  • First, a pest management professional will inspect your home for termites. If termites are present, the Advance Termite Bait System will be installed in soil around the perimeter of your home.
  • The stations will be checked regularly for termite activity. (Figure 1)
  • When termites are found in a station, (Figure 2) the Termite Inspection Cartridge (TIC), containing no active ingredient, is replaced with a Termite Bait Cartridge so termites can start feeding on the bait. (Figure 3)
  • As termites feed and then travel back to the colony, they share termite bait with other nest mates and send other termites back to feed on the bait. As feeding on the bait continues and more and more termites are affected, the termite colony starts to die and is eliminated.
  • After a colony is eliminated, the bait is replaced with a new inspection cartridge. Your pest professional will continue to inspect the station regularly to discover and treat any new colonies that invade your property. (Figure 4)