What Are These Flying Termites Around My Mooresville Property?

If there's anything scarier than spotting a flying termite, it's discovering how much damage these pests might've done to your Mooresville home. Here's what local residents should know about flying termites around your property, how to tell if you have them, why this could indicate an existing termite infestation, and when it's time to call in pest control in Mooresville for professional help.

What Are Termite Swarmers?

Do termites fly? While not all termites can fly, some of them can, including termite swarmers. Termite swarmers, also called alates, are the termite colony's reproductive members responsible for mating and starting new termite colonies.

Alates only have one real purpose in the colony, and that's to increase the population during the swarming season. Once springtime hits, swarming season begins, the swarmers emerge from their nests to start their search. Female alates release mating pheromones to entice the male alates, and once they've found a mate, they'll break off their wings, find a place to nest, and start a new colony.

The two large pairs of wings attached to their backs are perhaps the easiest way to identify termite swarmers from soldier or worker termites. At first glance, alates can look like flying ants due to their similar size and coloring.

How Can I Tell If Termite Swarmers Are Around My Home?

Not all termite infestations have swarmers, especially a new colony. Termite colonies can take three to four years to begin producing their own swarmers, so how can you tell if you've got termite swarmers at all?

The first way to tell if you've got a termite swarm is by spotting the swarm itself. To grow the infestation and find a mate, swarmers have to actually emerge from the colony. You're most likely to see alates emerge from their nest once the weather is warmer, but they are also most common on days after rainstorms. Termites love moisture, and fresh rain provides that. Termite swarms can happen at almost any point during daylight hours, which is why many homeowners don't spot live swarms.

The more common way to figure out you've got termite swarmers is by finding the evidence they leave behind. When termites swarm in your house, you may find piles of discarded wings. Termite wings can look similar to fish scales and are often left around windows, doors, or near other entrances of your home.

Why Termite Swarmers Can Indicate An Existing Infestation

Since alates can fly, some homeowners may assume that termite swarms happen anywhere or that these pests have only ended up on their property by accident. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. Termite swarmers aren't great fliers and will usually swarm within 300 feet of their original colony. If you see termite swarmers outside or find evidence of a swarm on your property, you've likely got an infestation in your home or near your yard.

Finding termite swarmers inside your house is even worse. Spotting alates in your home often indicates that you've got an active infestation inside or underneath your house. Keep in mind that most colonies don't produce swarmers for at least a couple of years. If you're discovering alates inside your home, it doesn't just mean an infestation, but also a large, active one.

If you have spotted swarmers or found their wings, you should check for other signs of a termite infestation, like wood that appears water-damaged, mud tubes, hollow wood, and frass.

Call Lake Norman Home Services Immediately If You See Termite Swarmers

Seeing a termite swarm is alarming for a couple of reasons. Not only does it indicate you've got a termite infestation in your home, but it also means those termites are in the process of expanding their nest and colony. They may have already caused significant damage to your Mooresville home, even if you haven't realized it yet.

Once you see termite swarmers, taking action is crucial, and that's where Lake Norman Home Services can help. We've got more than 50 years of experience dealing with all kinds of termites in Mooresville, and we can stop termite swarmers in their tracks.

If you've spotted flying termites near your home, found evidence of a swarm, or have discovered other signs of termites, you should call immediately. Contact us today at Lake Norman Home Services to learn more about our termite removal and elimination services.