A CLOSER LOOK

摘要

The western drywood termite (Incisitermes minor) (see Figure 1 above) is an important structural pest, especially in California and Arizona, causing an estimated damage of $250 million annually (Cabrera and Scheffrahn 2017). These termites are hard todetect in structures due to their very cryptic nature. Most drywood termites live entirely within wood and rarely leave their galleries. The only time people notice their presence is when alates (winged termites) swarm, when fecal pellets are seen in oraround the structure, or when inspections reveal subsurface tunnelswithin structural wood. Among these signs, only the presence of live alates is proof of an active infestation (the other two may only indicate old infestations).