Why Don’t Subterranean Termites Swarm Like They Used To?
Back in the 1990’s, telephones at pest control companies were ringing off the hook during the months of February, March and April. So many people were calling us and telling us their stories about how thousands of subterranean termites were flying around the insides of their homes. They wanted their problems fixed – Right Now! We were working really hard and we treated a lot of homes, but there was no way that we could keep up with the demand in those days. Compare those times with what we’ve seen over the past eight or nine years and all you’ll get is a big yawn. Oh, we still get calls about subterranean termite problems, but the number of calls must only be about 10 percent of what they used to be. What happened?? Well, Dr. Phil Koehler of the University of Florida believes he knows why termite swarms are scarce and that is because they are now seeing something new – “Wingless crawling termites”. Dr. Koehler says that termites don’t have to fly to mate. So now, the termites just craw
