Maryland Termite Control and Extermination

In Maryland, protecting your business or home from pests is a crucial part of your maintenance responsibilities. Some pests, like termites, represent a serious threat to your property and may pose a risk to human health. Termites feed on wood and they can damage framing and supports, making structures unsafe and requiring costly repairs. To protect your Maryland home or business from termites, you need to learn about the behavior of this pest, take steps for prevention, and find effective treatment options should an infestation occur.

What Are Termites?

Termites are social, subterranean insects that live in colonies with up to several million individual termites, and feed on dead plant material, especially wood. Termite colonies are complex, sometimes consisting of several central headquarters, which are usually near food sources such as fallen logs or even man-made structures and connected via underground tunnels. The Maryland pest control experts at Viking Pest explain much like bees or ants, these pests are divided into four castes: queens, workers, soldiers, and swarmers. Swarmers are the explorer caste, and they usually show up in the spring in Maryland, swarming to find new places for colonies. Workers remain in tunnels and can do a lot of damage to homes and buildings as they chew through wood, wallpaper, drywall, and even plastic. This caste also brings food back to the queen, and newborn termites in the colony. Soldiers accompany workers, protecting them from harm.

How to Identify Termites

Worker termites are only visible if their tunnels are broken. This caste of termites is usually white or pale with rounded bodies and heads and straight antennae. Swarmers can look very similar to flying ants but their wings are longer than their bodies and rounded at the ends. Flying ants have two sets of wings, one of which is shorter than the other, whereas termites have two sets of equal-sized wings. It’s important to recognize the difference between a swarmer termite and a flying ant because if you see swarming termites, it’s likely that your Maryland home or business is or could become infested with a termite colony.

Subterranean Termite Mud Tunnels 

Eliminate subterranean termites and their mud tunnels from your property with our professional pest control services. 

What are Subterranean Mud Tunnels? 

Subterranean termites are a nightmare to residential and commercial property owners. Termites build mud tunnels out of soil, wood, and their saliva to connect underground colonies with food sources above-ground. What’s more, these tunnels protect termites from moisture and predators, explain the termite extermination experts at Viking Pest. 

What Do Termite Mud Tunnels Look Like? 

Termite mud tunnels tend to look like stalagmites in caves. When inspecting your property for termites, look out for three types of mud tunnels— working tubes, exploratory tubes, and drop tubes. Working tubes run from the soil to a food source, while exploratory tubes go through the soil. A drop tube forms a path from the wood back to the soil. 

Where to Find Mud Tunnels in Your Home 

Termites love moisture. Viking’s termite control experts normally find termite mud tunnels around framing cracks, unprotected brick walls, bathrooms, laundry rooms, crawlspaces, or any other moist areas around your property. 

When Are Termites Present in Maryland?

Exterminators explain Maryland is home to various types of subterranean termites. From March to May, you’re likely to see swarms of Eastern subterranean termites. Between March and June is when dark Southeastern termites swarm and light southeastern termites swarm between August and October. All these species swarm during the day but can also be found at night swarming around light sources. The Maryland pest control experts at Viking Pest explain worker termites may work year-round, chewing through various parts of wooden structures to feed themselves and the colony. According to pest control experts, as long as termites can find a warm, moist area, they remain active.

How to Control Termites in Maryland

Because they’re prevalent in Maryland, it’s important for the protection of your home or business that you know how to get rid of termites. Termite treatment in Maryland is a specialty of Viking Pest Control. Among other treatments, Viking Pest uses a Termite Bait and Monitoring System to rid your Maryland home or business of termites. Termite Bait and Monitoring Systems use the pest’s nature against them, with bait that workers are attracted to even more than wood. Workers eat this bait and bring it back to the colony, where queens and new termites eat it. After feeding on the bait, these pests can’t molt, which means they can’t survive.

You can also prevent a termite infestation by maintaining your building or home property to keep them out. Use proper drainage to keep the framing and soil around it dry. The Maryland termite control experts at Viking Pest recommend filling cracks and holes in cement and around entry points like pipes and electrical incursions, fixing all leaks, and keeping vents free from debris. Don’t plant trees or shrubs against wood structures and don’t pile wood-like firewood near your Maryland home or business.

Protecting Your Maryland Home or Business From Termites With Viking Pest Control

Viking Pest offers expert treatment designed to effectively and efficiently control and prevent termites from invading your home or business in Maryland. Our use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques focuses on finding the core of the pest concern and controlling termites from the source. Through IPM, pest control materials are selected and applied in a manner that minimizes risks to human health, pets, and the environment. Call Viking today for your FREE and NO OBLIGATION estimate at 1-800-618-2847 or schedule online today!

Protecting Your Home or Business From Termites in Maryland With Viking Pest Control

Viking Pest offers expert treatment designed to effectively and efficiently control and prevent pests from invading your home or business in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. Our use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques focuses on finding the core of the pest concern and controlling Termites in Maryland from the source. Through IPM, pest control materials are selected and applied in a manner that minimizes risks to human health, pets, and the environment. Call Viking today for your FREE and NO OBLIGATION estimate at 1-800-618-2847 or Schedule Online today!