New Jersey Insect Control
What are wood-destroying insects?
Wood-boring insects have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. In 1998, amber containing ant fossils estimated to be 92 million years old was found in Cliffwood Beach, NJ. And scientific evidence indicates that termites evolved independently and much earlier than ants.
Wood-boring insects are any insects that dig or chew holes into wood and wood products including flooring, sheetrock, wallpaper, cardboard boxes, books, and any fabric made of plant fibers. Some of these insects, most notably termites and wood-boring beetles, actually digest the wood that they bore into. Termites belong to the order Isoptera, the only order of insects with the capability of eating wood. Using various protozoa, bacteria, and fungi, termites have the necessary enzymes to literally eat their way through your home. All Isoptera have very soft bodies and are almost always light in color. They also have mouths shaped for chewing. Of all the wood-damaging insects, termites are the most significant and widespread.
Carpenter ants, although wood boring, are not wood eaters. They dig into wood in order to build their nests. Although these wood-boring insects are not related to each other in their evolution, they all have the common trait of being “home wreckers,” capable of damaging homes beyond repair if the insects are not killed and the infestation is left untreated. Wood damaged by wood-boring insects can become fragile to where it will crumble under pressure or collapse under its own weight. There have been extreme cases where the structural damage is so severe that the home had to be raised.
Although all of these insects are smaller than a dime, the damage that they cause is enormous. It is estimated that termites alone cause billions of dollars in damage each year in the United States. A small colony of 60,000 termites can eat through one foot of wood in sex months. Termites damage more homes than hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes combined. But they don’t make the news because termite damage is silent, hidden, and insidious, occurring over a period of years. While termite damage doesn’t have the powerful visuals of a tsunami or hurricane to make the evening news, make no mistake: over the long-term, year after year, based on annual value of property destroyed or damaged, termites are nature’s weapon of mass destruction. These insects exist to destroy.
For subterranean termites, your home and its wooden belongings is food. And termites have a virtually insatiable appetite. Termite colonies eat non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Given enough time, termites can cause extensive damage, effectively destroying the foundation of a house. Unfortunately, just as termites stay hidden, most of the damage stays hidden as well. The superficial damage is usually just the tip of the iceberg. To determine the extent of termite damage once it is found is a time-consuming expensive process. Carpets and rugs must be lifted, furnishings and home equipment moved, walls and ceilings opened, and in some cases, even excavation is necessary. To say that termite damage lowers the value of your home may be one of the greatest understatements in real estate.
If termites weren’t enough, there are other New Jersey insects are capable of causing significant damage to wooden structures. Wood Eating Beetles include the powderpost beetle and the old-house borer beetle. There are also carpenter ants and carpenter bees. Carpenter ants can cause significant damage while carpenter bees are more of a nuisance pest.
You can read more about us and about our company history. See why you should choose Cowley's. We offer customers help with residential pest control, commercial pest control, residential termite management, and offer other additional services. We help customers exterminate bed bugs, termites, wood destroying insects, beetles, carpenter bees, ants, rodents, ticks, stinkbugs, and offer bird control and nuisance wildlife services.
