Termites Work 24 Hours a Day in Gaithersburg, MD & Other Interesting Termite Facts
Interesting Facts About Termites
Termites are notoriously known for causing costly amounts of damage to your home and business. They will quickly and quietly take over the wood and cellulose materials in your home or business before you realize it. But besides being the destructive pests most folks already know about, today we at Eagle Pest Services would like to relate some interesting facts concerning termites.1. In Singapore queen termites can reach approximately 2 inches in length, and are served as delicacies. The queen termite is served alive, and dipped in alcohol. They are also presented in rice wine.
2. Termites will infest dying trees that will speed up the deteriorating process, allowing for a faster recovery and new growth of the tree to continue.
3. There are more termites than people with approximately 1000 termites to one human.
4. In Africa, termites create mounds to live in. One mound has been measured to be about the size of a 2 story building, coming in at 42 feet.
5. Found in various locations of the U.S., to reach the wood, termites will build freestanding mud tubes.
6. Deep in the Amazon, there are cultures that believe if a home gets infested with termites; it is a bad omen, signifying the death to someone who lives there. The only way to rectify the situation is to have the termites terminated, or to move away from the home.
7. The queen termite occupying African regions can grow to be approximately 5 inches long, and lay up to 30,000 eggs a year. To put the number of eggs in perspective, a chicken usually lays up 320 eggs a year.
8. Termites work an entire 24 hour a day, straight through with no sleep.
9. Termites are believed to be roaming the earth far longer than when dinosaurs sauntered through the world. The early humans have been around for nearly 4 1/2 million years. Dinosaurs were around 230 million years ago and termites are traced back 250 million years ago.
10. A termite species known as Formosans, have been known to be extremely aggressive, and take on the wood the size of a football rather quickly. One colony can consume 650 little league baseball bats, or up to 1,000 pounds of wood each year!
11. A colony of termites typically consists of 1 million citizens and when termites move into a home, usually 3-4 colonies can be found within.
12. Termites actually avoid light whenever possible.
13. Alaska is the only state where subterranean termites are not found.
14. A termite worker will scout for food up to 250 feet away from their colony, which is the equivalent to a human being walking 4 1/2 miles to find food.
15. African people are not the only ones who will consume termites; Macu Indians will indulge if crops and gardens don't produce enough food.
16. Termite queens live longer than most other termites, reigning for 15-25 years and are able to lay an egg every 15 seconds.17. The United States houses 40 species of termites and there are over 2,700 species found around the world.
18. A termite can squeeze through a crack as small as the width of a business card.
19. Different cultures in the Amazon believe a smoking termite nest can cure the flu and drinking sweetened boiled termites can cure the whooping cough.
