Do Termites Make Noise? Listen For These Sounds

Need to get rid of termites? Read on to learn the answers to all of your important questions. Need help? Call our professionals today to get started.

What Are Termites?

Termites are one of the oldest and most successful groups of insects and have been in existence for 140 million years. They can be found almost everywhere in the world and their help with decomposing organic plant material is an important component of the larger ecological system.

Termites are small insects that are between 1/6 and 3/5 of an inch long. All termites live on dead plant material alone and various termite species are particular about which kind of wood or plant material they choose to eat. 

How Do Termites Hear?

Most termites in termite colonies are blind and deaf, rendering visual and aural communication obsolete. As a result, termite communication happens by way of pheromones and vibrations. Termites are quite sensitive to movement and can detect vibrations in many of the several organs found at the base of their antennae and on their tibia at the base of the leg. Scientists in Australia believe that termites can tell the size of a piece of wood through the use of vibration to measure it from the inside!

What Sounds Do Termites Make?

If termites feel threatened, they will bang against their tunnels and shake their bodies to let their colony-mates know of the possibility of danger. You might hear this banging and shaking as a quiet clicking noise coming from your floors or the walls of your home. Termites are also noisy eaters and you might even be able to hear them chomping on the wood in your home if you put your ears close enough to any infested material.

Interesting fact: termites love rock music! A recent study found that communication through vibration must convey more than just a threat: when rock music was played, the vibrations made the termite workers work faster—in some cases, up to twice as fast!

Call Pest Control Experts

If you can hear clicking or munching noises in your walls or floors, it’s a good sign that you need to call a pest care professional. Termites can work quickly and can create dangerous situations that threaten the wellbeing of your home and belongings. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Call Pest Control Experts to take care of your termite problem today.