- Termites can be easily identified by the mud tubing they build out of soil and other materials. This mud tubing system is how they move around the structure they are infesting. Termites have straight antenna and their front and back wings are of equal length.
- You will rarely see them moving freely from the mud tubing unless they are in a swarming phase. According to the North Carolina State University Department of Entomology, termite colonies produce swarming or flying adults within three to five years. Although flying termite adults can be seen around structures they are not infesting, seeing them swarm in a structure is a good indication that there is an infestation.
- Termites eat the wood. That's what creates holes and structural damage over a period of several years.
- Although carpenter ants look similar to termites they have distinguishable body features. They have a slender waist, bent antenna, and their two front wings are longer then their two back wings.
- Carpenter ants nest in wooden structures potentially causing damage. According to the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, carpenter ants create damage by hollowing out areas in wood to build their nests. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood, they only nest in it. However, by hollowing out nesting sites and nesting in wood already damaged by moisture or mold, they can degrade the integrity of a structure over time.
- Although they live in the nests they create in structures, they travel outside these nests to feed on protein-rich food like other insects. They do not consume the wood.
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