Termites in my mulch... - Page 2

John3 · April 19, 2012

Ditto the above posts
Doesn't sound like you have Winged carpenter ants

found this by Orkin

TigersAU777 · April 19, 2012

Thanks worth...and everyone posting...the NASA comment was too funny... My computer was acting up last night so thank you for pointing out the critters in the pic...I had noticed termites I. A small woodpile near my house but I rent the property and told my landlord and she kinda blew me off about it...her loss not mine...the only question I have is about the wings...these don't seem to have them so are they just not developed yet? Also to anyone who has insight I have another thread about some of my stalks being thinner at the bottoms of the plant...seems to only be occurring in about 1/3 of only my early girls.

kurt · April 19, 2012

Wher did you get the mulch from?If bought from a supplier I would call them up and tell them so as not to spread them all over.From what I understand the winged ones are Queens and Males that swarm to reproduce new offspring.They have a cast system,queens, males,workers, soldiers,most of them are sterile.probaly the worst pest you can have around with ticks to follow.

Worth1 · April 19, 2012

Females and males swarm and land on the ground and mate then bite off their wings.
The male dies of a heart attack when he sees how many babies he is going to have.
The female sets up house keeping as a widow and has several male callers throughout her life but never gets re-married.
In mourning from the loss of her husband she eats all of the time and gets really big and has more babies that grow up to eat your house.

worth

b54red · April 20, 2012

A few years ago I had the little buggers tunnel up through a tiny crack in the foundation of my shed and by the time I noticed anything they had eaten most of one wall and everything but the paint in the siding. It's amazing how much damage they can do and how fast they can do it. I think pine is their food of choice so you might want to cut back on the pine bark. I haven't noticed them getting into the cypress mulch like they do pine bark; but maybe they just haven't gotten around to it yet.

rsg2001 · April 20, 2012

It looks like you have swarmers; they tend to come this time of year. This is the time of year that the swarmers go to find mates and set up a colony. Whether they came in the mulch or were on your property but were simply attracted to the mulch because of the wood content, you are best to have a pest control person come out and make sure you don't have a real problem. And also to the best of your ability remove the mulch that you have as well as others have suggested alert the mulch source. A few years ago we started to get swarmers trying to invade our house. A local pest control person came out and determined that we didn't have any damage, but the key was to keep the swarmers from starting any. He set a couple of test "traps" around the house and came back a couple weeks later to inspect, and there were a bunch, so we had a Sentricon system put in. We live in an area of older homes so we have to be vigilant about it. So far, so good.

April 19, 2012	#16
John3 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Alabama 7.5 or 8 depends on who you ask Posts: 727	Ditto the above posts Doesn't sound like you have Winged carpenter ants found this by Orkin

April 19, 2012	#17
TigersAU777 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 83	Thanks worth...and everyone posting...the NASA comment was too funny... My computer was acting up last night so thank you for pointing out the critters in the pic...I had noticed termites I. A small woodpile near my house but I rent the property and told my landlord and she kinda blew me off about it...her loss not mine...the only question I have is about the wings...these don't seem to have them so are they just not developed yet? Also to anyone who has insight I have another thread about some of my stalks being thinner at the bottoms of the plant...seems to only be occurring in about 1/3 of only my early girls.

April 19, 2012	#18
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,500	Wher did you get the mulch from?If bought from a supplier I would call them up and tell them so as not to spread them all over.From what I understand the winged ones are Queens and Males that swarm to reproduce new offspring.They have a cast system,queens, males,workers, soldiers,most of them are sterile.probaly the worst pest you can have around with ticks to follow.

April 19, 2012	#19
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Females and males swarm and land on the ground and mate then bite off their wings. The male dies of a heart attack when he sees how many babies he is going to have. The female sets up house keeping as a widow and has several male callers throughout her life but never gets re-married. In mourning from the loss of her husband she eats all of the time and gets really big and has more babies that grow up to eat your house. worth

April 20, 2012	#20
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	A few years ago I had the little buggers tunnel up through a tiny crack in the foundation of my shed and by the time I noticed anything they had eaten most of one wall and everything but the paint in the siding. It's amazing how much damage they can do and how fast they can do it. I think pine is their food of choice so you might want to cut back on the pine bark. I haven't noticed them getting into the cypress mulch like they do pine bark; but maybe they just haven't gotten around to it yet.

April 20, 2012	#21
rsg2001 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New York Zone 6 Posts: 479	It looks like you have swarmers; they tend to come this time of year. This is the time of year that the swarmers go to find mates and set up a colony. Whether they came in the mulch or were on your property but were simply attracted to the mulch because of the wood content, you are best to have a pest control person come out and make sure you don't have a real problem. And also to the best of your ability remove the mulch that you have as well as others have suggested alert the mulch source. A few years ago we started to get swarmers trying to invade our house. A local pest control person came out and determined that we didn't have any damage, but the key was to keep the swarmers from starting any. He set a couple of test "traps" around the house and came back a couple weeks later to inspect, and there were a bunch, so we had a Sentricon system put in. We live in an area of older homes so we have to be vigilant about it. So far, so good.