How Termites ‘Searching for Love’ Landed within the Information – Bug Squad

City entomologist Andrew Sutherland

What a 12 months! Termites appear to be capturing the curiosity of extra people than normal.

First, emeritus Cooperative Extension specialist Vernard Lewis of UC Berkeley, extremely revered as “The Termite Man,” drew widespread consideration on Nov. 2 when he delivered the Founders’ Memorial Lecture on “The Termite Girl,” Margaret James Stickland Collins (1922-1966), on the Entomological Society of America’s annual assembly, held in Denver.

Lewis coated the life and legacy of Collins, an African-American entomologist and civil rights advocate whose termite analysis spanned 5 many years. Lewis praised her “pioneering research on the mechanism and evolution of termite desiccation resistance throughout numerous habitats offered foundational data for generations of entomologists, area biologists, and ecologists.”  

Did termites fade into obscurity after Lewis’ heralded ESA seminar?

No. Not an opportunity. “Love” noticed to that.

The heavy winter rains within the Bay Space, adopted by heat sunny days, resulted within the well timed emergence of subterranean termites “searching for love,” famous College of California City Built-in Pest Administration (IPM) advisor and concrete entomologist Andrew Sutherland, who serves the San Francisco Bay Space counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.

“Apparently, this 12 months’s subterranean termite swarms generated far more pop media curiosity than normal,” stated Sutherland who holds a doctorate in entomology (2009) from UC Davis. “Maybe it is as a result of we had extra folks at dwelling than in earlier years (pre-COVID…additionally, 2019 and 2020 swarms occurred throughout Thanksgiving weekend, so people might have been preoccupied or touring).”

“Since they stay underground, they should have alternatives to satisfy and fall in love,”  Sutherland advised journalist Leah Worthington of the Redwood Metropolis Pulse.  “So it is type of like a giant singles bar within the air…The king and queen kind what’s referred to as a nuptial pair. And that nuptial pair begins a colony, often in a chunk of wooden that’s partially buried within the soil.”

Sutherland’s program contributed to a few information media items; a UC Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (UC ANR) weblog; and a LinkedIn put up:

A subterranean termite explores its environment. (Picture by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

“One newsworthy merchandise as regards to California: we have now detected a number of reproducing populations of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus, in southern California (San Diego, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties all have current detections),” Sutherland identified. “This termite is taken into account essentially the most damaging pest species on this planet and is an invasive species of curiosity to the state and to the pest management trade. My colleagues in Southern California have produced some informational alert supplies just lately. (See PDF)

“Up right here within the San Francisco Bay Space, we’re persevering with evaluations of bait station techniques and investigations into the western subterranean termite species complicated,” Sutherland stated.

In his UC ANR weblog, revealed Oct. 21–in the midst of the autumn subterranean termite swarm season–Sutherland defined the scenario properly: 

“It is that point of 12 months once more: termite swarm season! Western subterranean termites, Reticulitermes hesperus (species complicated), produce reproductive swarms throughout calm sunny intervals instantly following the primary autumn rains. That is particularly pronounced within the San Francisco Bay Space and components of the Sacramento Valley, the place mature termite colonies throughout a broad area might swarm concurrently en masse, filling the air with termites fluttering their gossamer wings and filling social media discussions with marvel, horror, confusion, and dread.”

Warming their flight muscle groups, these winged subterranean termites are able to fly. (Picture by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

“Western subterranean termites might also swarm within the spring, particularly in southern California, foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and the northern Sacramento Valley. Regardless of the swarm season, the objective for the termites is to kind ‘nuptial pairs’ of virgin ‘queens’ and ‘kings’ that may mate and enterprise out into the panorama to start out their very own colonies, which can finally include tons of of hundreds of people that forage over hundreds of sq. toes! Seeing fluttering termites within the air implies that close by colonies are swarming, but it surely doesn’t essentially imply your property or different wood construction is infested. Then again, seeing winged termites issuing forth from the bottom or a chunk of wooden means, unequivocally, that there’s a mature colony beneath, doubtlessly infesting or threatening close by wood constructions.”

A Solano County house owner witnessed the phenomenon on Oct. 27. She noticed tons of of them exiting the soil by her ailing black walnut tree on Buck Avenue, Vacaville.  The bugs actually carpeted the bottom and sprawled out on fallen leaves. Because the solar warmed their flight muscle groups, the winged termites took off–right into the beaks of swooping birds.  

What must you do when you spot a swarm?

As Sutherland wrote in his weblog: “If observing a swarm in your property, particularly if close to your property or different constructions, you possibly can rent an expert termite firm for an in depth inspection. Ensure that to {photograph} or in any other case notice the swarm location in order that the inspector can begin there. Even when you do not see swarms in your property, common (each three to 5 years) inspections will assist detect infestations earlier than they trigger vital injury and stop future infestations. There are a number of confirmed administration methods for termites; evaluate UC IPM’s Pest Notes: Subterranean Termites.”

“For now, maybe we will all admire the marvel of this pure spectacle,” Sutherland wrote. “Winged termites are nice sources of meals for birds, lizards, different bugs, and spiders. Termites additionally present vital ecosystem companies, akin to decomposition of wooden and fallen leaves, contribution to soil construction formation, enhancement of water infiltration in soil, and facilitation of nutrient availability to vegetation. Moreover, western subterranean termites are native to California and have been right here lengthy earlier than we constructed wood constructions on prime of their colonies. (Termite) love is within the air!

The UC IPM Pest Be aware relates that “Subterranean termites are widespread all through California and might be discovered infesting fallen bushes, stumps, or different lifeless wooden involved with the soil within the forest, panorama, or structural lumber in our homes…The commonest subterranean termites, Reticulitermes, might be encountered in almost all areas of the state, from the sand dunes of the coast to the higher elevations of the mountain ranges and even in a number of the desert areas. The species of Reticulitermes are essentially the most damaging termites present in California. They’re small in measurement in comparison with dampwood and drywood termites, however mature colonies can comprise tons of of hundreds of people.”

City entomologist Thomas Chouvenc of the College of Florida wrote about controlling termites in his article, “Killing It within the Eggs: A Termite Bait Story,” revealed Dec. 7 in ESA’s Entomology Right this moment. “Subterranean termites characterize a reputable concern for a lot of owners in america due to their potential injury to wooden constructions,” he started and went on to debate chitin synthesis inhibitor (CSI) bait formulations.

CSI is one thing that termites searching for love need no a part of.