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by EmmaleeGW on April 8th, 2005

EmmaleeGW

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When I open the front door, termites rush in by the numbers. I have tried to sweep them out, but I am terrified that they will bite me. Can they bite me or harm my animals?

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  • by notmrjohn on April 10th, 2005

    notmrjohn

    The flying stage of termites, and that's the only stage I can even imagine rushing in, do not bite. The workers and soldiers are blind and sunlight kills them.( We're talkin your basic US of A subterranean termite here) The winged ones ( alar stage) are the adults or sexually mature males and females of this season and they are swarming or flying off to meet other sexually mature adults, become kings and queens, start new nests and raise lots of little termites, it happens every spring around here. The workers and soldiers are wingless and are basically non-sexually matured females. The soldiers do protect the nests but mostly against ants and other small critters. They can't do you or your pets any harm.
    Unlike ants, which have a similar caste system and swarming behavior, termites have a "king" and "queen" in each nest and mating is more or less continuous. Ants and bees and their relatives (termites are closer related to cockroaches) have only a queen, the male dies soon after mating and one time is enough to produce all the ants in a nest.
    BTW The termites aren't rushing in to eat your furniture or house. The nest they are coming from is already nearby, maybe even in your house, and they are swarming to move someplace else. I myself am replacing yet another wall here at sawdust corners and am very familiar with swarming termites, every morning there they are crawling around in the tub, swimming in the toilet, climbing the walls ( along with me). It's like my bathroom is a termite singles bar, "Hey, baby, can I buy you a toothpick?"

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