Termites are among the most damaging and costly of all insect pests. These pests cause 5 billion dollars of damage to structures in the United States every year.

One reason termites cause so much damage is that most homeowners are completely unaware their home is infested by these hidden pests. Typically it takes a new colony three to five years before it starts producing winged swarmers, the sign homeowners are most likely to see. By the time the swarmers are seen, substantial damage may have occurred. Worse yet, often an indoor colony

releases swarmers outdoors, so the home-owner may never see them.

How fast do termites work? A typical mature colony of 240,000 subterranean termites (some colonies are much larger) consumes an average of about 20 grams of wood in a 24 hour period. This converts to about 16 pounds of wood each year per colony, which gradually weakens a structure. Termites are like a slow-spreading cancer. It's much better to catch the problem early, and control it then. That's why it's so important to have us do a regular, professional inspection to detect these and other wood-destroying pests, as part of a preventative maintenance program to protect your investment in your home.

Catching these pests sooner rather than later means you spend less controlling them. Additionally, often we catch them before they have done substantial damage, saving you thousands of dollars in repair costs.

Termites aren't the only pests that are on the rise. Foreign pests have made an impact on this country since its beginning. Thomas Jefferson even declared that one pest helped speed the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. He wrote that on that hot, humid July 4th, biting stable flies (originally from Europe) helped quicken the signers by swarming "thick and fierce, alighting on their legs and biting through their thin silk stockings." Those pesky biting flies actually helped something good get done!

By 1983, an amazing 1,683 species of foreign insects were thriving in this country. And more are coming-the invasion of new pests has greatly accelerated in recent years, keeping us, as the area's pest control professionals, on our toes.

In fact, most of the worst pests we control every day are not native pests, but have migrated here from all over the world. Most of our worst pest ants came here from other countries, along with most lice, the common house fly, and our worst rats, mice, stored food pests, and pest bird species. Even our American, German, Oriental, and brown-banded cockroaches all originated from Africa, despite the names they now carry.

Here are a few of the more recent immigrants that are rapidly spreading in this country: brown marmorated stink bugs, Asian lady bugs, Asian and Turkestan cockroaches, Africanized ("killer") bees, Asian tiger mosquitoes, Formosan termites, hobo spiders, brown widow spiders, numerous new ant species, various wasps, and many others. Unfortunately, you'll be hearing more about these spreading pests in the years ahead.