On 8/19/2012 12:51 PM, Dottie wrote:
I hope I can find my way back to this board because I need help. We
discussed this before I think -- I live in Florida and had my house
treated with Termador(sp?) in 2007 -- did it as a precaution because
several houses around me had subterrainium termites. Recently I
found a pile of dead bugs on the marble window sill in my dining room
window -- everything around the window is metal. The bugs did look
like very tiny termites -- yet they had the body shape of an ant. My
neighbor took a sample to a friend of hers who keeps up with
different bugs as part of her job (not sure what she does) and she
said they were not termites -- they have the body of an ant -- but
she doesn't know what they are. I cannot find out how they got
inside ... except a very small hole between the marble and wall is
possible. Today I found ordinary ants coming in there ... there have
been stories in the paper about dry wood termites but I can't find
any pictures of fully developed ones. Does anyone know -- are they
shaped like sub.termites or are they more like ants? I have a call
into the pest control company that treated my house but I would like
to know more about what I might be dealing with before I talk to
them. The treatment they used doesn't work on dry wood termites I am
pretty sure ..



If you live in Florida, you need to inform yourself about termites, fire
ants and rats. Prevention is most important. You can probably do as
well at inspecting your structure for termites as a contractor can, and
you should do it, but also find a RELIABLE contractor to do annual
inspections. There are already been posts to this thread that make
assumptions about types of termites and treatment for each....wrong!
Also, termites belong in the environment where there is dead, decaying
wood...termites in a dead stump are not a sign your home is in danger.
Termites don't eat through paint....keep wood members of structure
painted, dry and in good repair. Wood should be minimum of 6" above
grade. Keep landscaping OFF the building. Caulk openings around doors,
windows, electrical and plumbing entries. Store cereal, grain and pet
food in sealed plastic containers. Sweets in the fridge.

U of Fla has loads and loads of info about pests, prevention, methods of
treatment and signs of infestation....inform yourself BEFORE you call
contractors so you are not in panic mode and get suckered into
treatments you do not need. I lived in an older condo that had been
tented for termites before I lived there...during some remodeling, it
was easy to see the old damage....it isn't the end of the world and you
can expect to have termites at some point. After bringing our condo
back into decent condition after long neglect, we were fine but the much
newer condo's on either side of ours needed to be tented. Just to be
sure of ID of bugs, you can bring or send samples to county extension
services....our co. had a staff entomologist just to ID and give expert
info.

Someone who had "termites" in California may have had a totally
different type/specie than one found in Louisiana or Florida. It is not
"one size fits all"!!

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_guide...d_pests_of_man