According to The Washington Post, termites cause billions of dollars in damage to the property owners of Australia. This means they are property destructors and can risk the structural integrity of your homes and eat up your valuable items without even making a single noise.
A lot of people across Australia are really worried about the repeated termites attack on their cottages or warehouses. However, insufficient knowledge about what termites eat makes them fail at preventing pest attacks.
It is usually floated that these dangerous pests eat wood, but they can eat more than a wooden chair or door. Making you go broke by paying hefty repairing costs instead of minimal termite control service charges for long-term protection.
Understanding Termites’ Positive Role in Preserving Nature
Whenever someone thinks of termites, a negative image of eaten-up floorboards, dining tables, kitchen racks, etc, comes into mind. But that’s not only the use case or responsibility of termites, be it dampwood or drywood because they also play the role of recyclers in forests by eating up the dead plant cells, particularly those containing cellulose.
It promotes the regeneration of new plants, turning into forests for millions of years. The tunneling along the soil of subterranean termites also improves the soil quality and water retention rate, resulting in a better ecosystem for all living beings.
Despite their several benefits for the ecosystem, termites are still a threat to homes, government buildings, and anything made of timber or containing cellulose.
What Do Termites Eat Most?
The only thing that attracts termites from miles away is cellulose, if there’s cellulose present in anything like a book or a sofa structure. Then, it would be a perfect feasting place for these insects. We have found some common termite food sources for you to learn about their attacking points and detect termites on the spot for instant killing.
- Wood and Timber Structures
- Paper and Cardboard Boxes
- Plant Based Material
- Grass and Leaves
- Certain Fabrics
- Dead Plants
- Animal Feces
- Books & Important Documents
- Wallpaper and Glue
What Do Termites Don’t Eat?
While discussing what termites eat, it is necessary to know about the things that these insects resist eating. To clear the air, we have brought some of the most common items that are confused with termites’ consumables.
- Concrete: Termites don’t eat concrete but can find their way through small cracks and gaps in the walls leading to the wooden structure of the building. It means even the concrete walls can’t stop these property destroyers from eating up the timber structure from the inside.
- Metal: Every kind of metal, silver, copper, etc, provides no nutritional value to termites and proves to be an effective barrier. You can use metal barriers before the wooden structure of your building to prevent termites from damaging your place.
- Plastic: Most plastic materials are not chewable for termites and provide no cellulose content to them. However, the termites can still chew soft plastic like insulation pipes and reach their desired targets.
Do Termites Really Eat Hardwood?
The most asked question by people under a termite attack is: Do termites eat hardwood? And the answer is yes, termites like subterranean or drywood can eat hardwood timber items like furniture, flooring, wall panels, etc.
For example, drywood termites can consume both soft and hardwood timber. But in the case of stiff wood items, they take more time to damage the wood from the inside and compromise the structural integrity. Simply tap the stiff timber items with the back of a spoon. If they sound hollow, then termites are surely inside.
What Type of Woods Do Termites Eat?
There are no very strict preferences for termites to pick wood and hollow out from the inside. However, there are some ideal wood types that different insects follow for consuming cellulose.
- Pine: It is soft in nature and relatively high in cellulose content, making it an ideal food source for termites to reach foundations by setting up mud tubes around the walls of the building.
- Eucalyptus: Eucalyptus oil resists termites, but young eucalyptus wood is ideal for termites to attack and build a colony inside it. However, these pests still resist eating mature eucalyptus wood due to strong immunity from termite attacks.
- Oak: Dry oak is not a favourable food source for all kinds of termites, but if it’s a little moist, then it would be a perfect feasting item for them.
Can Termites Eat Clothes and Fabric?
You may think that my clothes are not made of wood, so why would the termites attack my fabrics? You are right; garments are not made of timber, but certain fabrics like linen, cotton, etc, contain cellulose which attracts them.
If your clothes are stored in dark and damp spaces for a long time. Then, it would be a feeding point for termites, causing irreversible damage most of the time.
What Attracts Termites to Wood?
There are some elements that make the timber items a complete package for termites to get attracted to them and launch an attack. We have mentioned some of them below for you to fix before learning how to kill termites for long-term prevention.
- Moisture: Leaky pipes, poor drainage systems, and water-damaged wood are the best moisture attractants for termites to infest.
- Cracks and Gaps: Cracks in foundations or walls, gaps in drainage pipes, and wooden joints of furniture allow termites to infest the wooden items.
- Dark and Damp Spaces: Places like storerooms where there’s not enough light and ventilation available are the perfect spaces for termites to thrive in humidity.
How Termites Find Sources and Consume Food?
Termites use different methods to find sources of food, like drywood or moist flooring, by sensing chemicals and moisture through specialised receptors. Worker termites also keep exploring the soil until they find cellulose content and leave pheromone trails to send signals to others.
They also create vibrations to communicate about the discovery of food items to the whole community. Termites chew wood fibers and break the cellulose using gut microorganisms, and strangely, they share digested food through mouth-to-mouth with each other.
Signs to Know Termites Are Feeding in Your Home or Not
You can simply look for the below-mentioned signs of termites around your place and confirm whether you are under termite attack or not.
- Mud Tubes: It is very easy to spot mud tunnels around the foundation or walls of the building. Subterranean termites usually set these up to attack the foundational structures.
- Discarded Wings: Flying termites shed their wings after mating and setting up a new colony. If you found discarded wings around the windowsills or door, then you are surely under a termite attack.
- Hollow-Sounding Wood: Simply tap on wooden items like the door, floorboard, skirtings, furniture, etc. If you hear a sagging sound upon tapping, then these pests are definitely eating the wood from the inside.
- Bubbling Paint: When the termites are consuming the timber of your door or window. Paint from that specific point will automatically bubble out and indicate their existence.
- Termite Droppings: Termites usually drop hexagonal pellets around the infested wood. The frass near timber items clearly indicates the drywood activity.
How to Prevent Termite Feeding and Infestations?
You can simply avoid providing breeding grounds to termites by making the things that termites eat unattractive.
- Inspect your home completely every 6-12 months.
- Install termite barriers.
- Fix the cracks or gaps in the foundation or windows.
- Limit the wood-to-soil contact of your home’s wooden structure.
- Keep the drainage system properly flowing and clean to avoid infestations.
Conclusion
The myth that termites only eat timber is busted above to help you know exactly what termites eat. So that you can keep those items protected by using prevention and constant monitoring techniques for long-term protection. Don’t give an ideal environment to termites for infestation in your home at any cost, and live a termites-free life.
