Three Ways the Pest Professional Can Use Infrared Thermography

Termites do more damage in the United States each year than fires and storms combined. They are a threat to property owners across 70 percent of the world and in every part of the United States with the exception of Alaska. The types of termites that we have in North America include: Drywood, Subterranean, Dampwood, and Arboreal termites. Each type has several varieties, and some types of termites are more destructive than others. The most destructive types are Subterranean and Arboreal termites. The most destructive termite species in the world is the Subterranean Formosan termite Coptotermes formosanus (see Figure 1). Formosan termites are indigenous to China Imported to the U.S. in the early 1980s, and they thrive in even a hardy, rocky environment. Nature has provided this single termite species with the ability to secrete an acid that dissolves concrete, steel, lead, copper, glass, tile, etc. to get to wood. One colony can consume as much as three lbs. of wood per day and often more if that one colony is attacking a structure. Here are some disturbing facts.