Do Termites Really Eat Wood?

Termites are social cockroaches. They live in colonies. They are known to cause billions of dollars in damage each year.

Termites are found in every state except Alaska. They are most common in warmer, humid lowlands. The moisture content of cellulose fibres attracts them. They build tiny mud tunnels around their colonies.

Termites do not transmit diseases to humans. They are highly organized, scavenge wood, and recycle it to the soil as humus. The symbiosis between the colonies has allowed them to thrive for millennia. They are also quite subtle. They can go undetected by most predators.

One way to detect termites is to hear them. You can do this by listening to their buzzing in large colonies. Termites tend to avoid specific species of trees.

Termites can damage interior wooden structures. They can chew through asphalt and plaster, and have been known to destroy unfinished basements. They are also attracted to homes that have crawlspaces.

Termites eat cellulose, a material in dead and decaying wood. They use bacteria and protozoa in their gut to break down the cellulose into sugars and starches. They then regurgitate the decomposed wood and feed it to their young.

Termites have an enormous appetite for cellulose. They can eat an average 2×4 piece of wood in just five months. Depending on the type of termite, the life span of a reproductive adult can be as long as four or five years. Termites usually produce three molts before they become mature.

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