Inspecting for Formosan Termites

Just as identifying a cockroach infestation as German or American can impact how you approach treatment, identifying a termite infestation as Formosan can and should impact your control strategy. The first step? Determining which species you’re dealing with – and that starts with a thorough inspection of the structure. 

Inspecting for Formosans

If you’re in an area with confirmed Formosan pressure, or if you suspect Formosan activity, your termite inspection should look a little different. First, cover the basics: Check for all the usual signs and entry points, look for mud tubes on foundations and in basements or crawl spaces, and check baseboards and door and window frames for damaged wood. 

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to look up. Check high on interior walls, molding and ceilings for spots or mud tubes, and make sure you get into the attic to get a look at the framing and inspect for moisture sources. Outside, check eaves, soffits and fascia for mud tubes. Make sure to inspect trees for signs of termites and for limbs that touch a roof; termites can use a limb as a bridge to the house. 

One tip? It might help to have some help, especially if you’re less experienced with Formosans or they’re new to your area. Formosan termites can build aerial or “carton” nests high inside a structure or in other hard-to-spot areas, so putting multiple sets of eyes on the structure can help ensure no subtle signs of infestation are missed. 

You Found Termites: Now What?

If you find live insects, your first clue as to the species will be the location: Were they high on a wall or in an attic, or were they at or near ground level? Location alone won’t give you a positive identification, but it can point you in the right direction. 

Next, look to the soldiers. While native subterranean soldiers have the distinctive, rectangular head we’re all familiar with, Formosan soldiers have an oval or teardrop-shaped head. But there’s a catch: Asian subterranean termites have a similarly shaped oval head. One giveaway? Formosan soldiers will often secrete a milky white discharge as a defensive measure.

And while Formosan colonies typically have a higher percentage of soldiers than native colonies, alates can give you clues as well. Formosan alates will generally be yellow or amber-brown in color, with hairy wings. 

Ultimately, you may have to depend on university-affiliated specialists for positive identification, especially if you’re in an area with native subterranean termites as well as Formosan and Asian termites. 

Put the Treatment Where the Problem Is

If you’ve confirmed an infestation of Formosans, the next step is obviously treatment. Sentricon^® in-ground bait stations are perfect if the colony is in contact with the ground. But what about a colony that’s high in a structure, with no direct ground contact? That’s a job for the Sentricon system and Recruit^® AG FlexPack^® bait stations. 

Recruit AG bait stations give you the flexibility to put the Sentricon system where it’s needed most to tackle tough Formosan infestations: on walls or other flat surfaces, under eaves, on rafters — wherever Formosans are feeding, the Sentricon system can go. 

For one Georgia-based Certified Sentricon Specialist^®, the Sentricon system and Recruit AG FlexPack bait stations provided the tools necessary to fight the area’s first confirmed Formosan infestation. 

Greg Holley, Zone Pest Solutions, Buford, Georgia, dispatched a technician after a call from a local homeowner who’d seen termites inside her home. When the termites were confirmed as Formosan, Holley knew both the infestation and the treatment approach would be different. 

“We went and did a significant inspection,” Holley says, “a two-hour, three-person inspection. We found termites on three sides of the house and in the basement, on the middle and top floors, and three stories up on the front. After confirming the termites as Formosan, we immediately started installing above-ground stations. I think initially we put above-ground stations on six different sites. Of those, three showed feeding within a week.”

Holley credits his peers in pest management with offering the benefits of their own experiences to help him and his team handle the threat from an unfamiliar species. 

“I’ve tried to get as much information as I can from other people in the industry,” Holley says, “because Formosan termites are a new thing to us. Everyone said to go in heavy with above-ground stations first; we found that to be great advice and would very much recommend that approach. We haven’t had to wait long with the Formosans; they’ve been very aggressive feeders. I really think they were in some of those stations before we left the house.”

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