As their name suggests, subterranean termite colonies live in underground nests. Workertermites come above ground to feed on wood, but remain out-of-sight by entering directlyinto wood that contacts the ground, through cracks in concrete as small as 1/64th of aninch, or by constructing tell-tale “mud tubes” over physical obstacles to get wood above.

When feeding, termites hollow out long galleries following the grain of wood and arecareful not to break through the wood surface. Each “bite” of wood a worker termitetakes is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

However, a mature colony of subterranean termites can do considerable damage since it may have several hundredthousand or more workers, each feeding several times per day. The end result – wood thatlooks perfectly solid, yet crumbles when even slight pressure is applied. In warm areas, termite attacks on homes can be year-round.