One of the most damaging threats that could exist for your home, especially structurally, are pests and insects. But some insects could be silent, and escape your notice until they cause a lot of damage to the structure of your home.
For instance, I inspect in Guilderland a lot. Over by E. Lydius Street (and that area of Rotterdam as well), there are a lot of termites. Termites hide in a lot of places that can’t be found. Just last week, I looked in a small opening in a laundry room wall and saw a mud tube (termites’ mode of travel). But that is what they do – hide in hard-to-reach places.
But many times the damage can be easily seen, but the damage could be from termites or carpenter ants. If you have found evidence that either of these insects have infested your home, you most likely need to identify which of these insects it is with the help of a PCO. But there are some things you can do on your own to identify these little buggers too. If you have never seen any of the two types of these “home destroying bugs” how can you identify which one is in your home?
To be able to distinguish which one is which, there are three distinguishing characteristics to tell them apart. First, ants have a tapered in body type giving the appearance that they have a thin waist, whereas the body of a termite isn’t constricted. If the insect has wings, which may not always be the case, an ant’s front wings are bigger than its rear ones, but the termite’s wings are about the same size.
Another distinguishing mark are the antennae, the ants can bend while the termite’s antennae does not.
Yes, you need to be on guard against these potential threats to your home, and identifying what they are may be the first step.
If you have any questions, or would like to schedule an inspection, please feel free to give us a call.