As if the mosquitoes weren't bad enough, the rainy weather in recent weeks has also brought out another insect pest - swarming termites, streaming up out of the ground, or the woodwork.
Michael Short, an inspector for J.C. Ehrlich Pest Control in Baltimore, was called recently to a home in Owings Mills.
The winged critters were "all over the floor in the foyer, literally covering the foyer," he said. "The customer was obviously very concerned."
The bugs weren't out to eat the house, just to mate and establish new colonies. They could be gone from sight almost as suddenly as they arrived. But their presence indicated a wood-eating colony was already well-established somewhere in the house.
"It [swarming] can happen any time, but in late spring or early summer it peaks in periods coincident with rainfall," said Mike Raupp, an entomologist with the University of Maryland. "The key is warm temperatures," he said. "On those muggy days that feel like they should be buggy days, mosquitoes and termites alike like the warm weather for flying and finding a new home."
Jim Riley, regional manager for Ehrlich in Baltimore, said April is normally the peak month for termites to emerge in this area, with some continued activity in early May.
"But we have had continued swarming even into June this year," he said, while April was not as heavy as it normally is. "It's a little unusual. The most intelligent entomologists in the business don't have any idea" why the pattern has changed.
"People need to understand that termites are everywhere there's decaying wood. Even decaying mulch can have termites," Raupp said. "It's Mother Nature's plan for recycling a very durable kind of material - wood."
The problem comes when the wood they're eating is the structure of a home. "As long as they're swarming outdoors, there's no immediate need to worry. If they're swarming within your house, that's another story. It's time to call your pest control operator," Raupp said.
It's also time when you see them marching out of the garden and up your foundation.
Recognizing termites when you see them is the key. Unlike flying ants, which have narrow "wasp waists," Raupp said, termites are thick where their abdomen meets their thorax.
Also, where ants have jointed antennae and different-sized front and rear wing pairs, termites have antennae that look like strings of beads, and their front and rear wings are the same size.
