Specialist Termite Control

Melbourne Uni Trying Out Some New Detection Technology

Inside The Workings Of Termites Curtsey of Melbourne Uni

Termites Ain’t Termites

Termite aren’t just termites, in fact there are over 350 different species in Australia alone and although the majority of them don’t cause us any issues there are some species that create huge amounts of damage throughout Melbourne. This photo, shows a species (Porotermes adamsoni or damp wood termites) that is not usually considered destructive however, if the conditions of your home replicate that of the termite environment then your home can become susceptible to a whole range of difference types of termites.

Termites flying our of a door achitrave in Ivanhoe, Melbourne

Termites are predominately a subterranean species but just like most colony organisms each member of the colony has a role to play. In the video you can see an example of the ‘reproductives’ or ‘alate’ termites flying out of a door architrave in Ivanhoe, Melbourne.

Every year around October/November when the weather is humid termites will fly right across Victoria in the hope of getting genetic spread and forming new colonies.

The majority of these termites wont survive and even though a few will it is a very expensive way of achieving reproduction and thus the reason termites are responsible for so much damage across Victoria as they need to retrieve this energy which they do by harvesting cellulose from timber.

Termites Entering a Basketball Stadium in Northern Melbourne

This is a classic example of termites entering a building, in this case in a basketball stadium in Greensborough, up a concrete stump. Also of note is the ‘ant cap’ between the stump and the buildings bearer, however this has not stopped the termites from gaining entry to the timbers above.

People often ask how termites can enter a home when there are ant caps installed on the concrete stumps. The simple answer is because ant caps are not designed to stop termite ingress, they are designed to try and force the termites to breach around the ant cap and thus make it easier for an inspector to detect the presence of termites when the building is inspected.

Ironically, the termites in this case actually went through the center of the ant cap making their installation virtually pointless.

Termites Entering House Through Stump

This shows termites (Nasutitermes spp) in a timber stump which was being used to enter a home ‘undetected’. Although this example is of  timer stump it should not be thought that termites cannot enter a home using a concrete stump, in fact we see more examples of termites entering a home via  concrete stumps than with timber simply because concrete house stumps are a more common building material nowadays.

The difference between concrete and timber stumps as far as termite management is concerned is that with concrete we can ‘see’ the termite tubes coming up the side of the stump on an annual inspection however with timber stumps termites can enter the home ‘undetected’ through the center of the stump.