14 



BULLETIN 333, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



W. D. Hunter stated on November 6, 1915 : " The recent hurricane 

 injured practically every building in the city [New Orleans, La.] 

 more or less, and hundreds were completely demolished. * * * 

 Many of the exposed beams were mined by insects and in many 

 cases at least this weakening of the timbers was an important con- 

 tributory cause of the loss." Much of this damage was probably due 

 to termites. 



Termites usually gain entrance to buildings from colonies out- 

 doors, and since the workers can extend subterranean galleries for 

 comparatively long distances, it is often impossible to trace the in- 

 sects to the outside source. However, these galleries, constructed in. 

 search of moist or decaying wood, originate in decaying stumps, poles, 



fence posts, boards, or other decaying 

 wood, or in the earth not very far away. 

 By means of these subterranean tun- 

 nels infestation by way of wooden 

 beams, joists, or supports of porching 

 or steps in contact with the ground is 

 effected. Termites can even pass over 

 impenetrable surfaces, such as stone, 

 brick, or concrete foundations, by means 

 of small sheds or tubes constructed of 

 earth and excrement on such surfaces or 

 by means of suspended tubes (fig. 5). 

 Sometimes ingress is gained through 

 cracks in concrete where foundation 

 timbers are imbedded in this material. 

 These insects have even been recorded 

 by Forbes as boring several feet through the mortar or cement between 

 the stones in foundation walls and brick partitions of the Statehouse 

 at Springfield, 111., and by Grant as perforating the mortar of the 

 brick walls of a Missouri Pacific Railroad engine house (probably 

 through cracks or where the cement was disintegrated). There are 

 several records of termites piercing the lead covering to telephone 

 cables in Australia and the United States (Savannah, Ga.). 



Since their work is hidden, the presence of termites is often not 

 discovered till the damage is beyond repair. Thus beams, flooring 

 (PL XV, p. 28) , walls and other woodwork, even up to the second and 

 third floors, and furniture are reduced to mere outer shells, the 

 interior being completely honeycombed ; often these intervening lon- 

 gitudinal layers of wood that are left uneaten are reduced to the 

 thinness and consistency of paper. Sometimes the settling of floors 

 or the collapse of joists is the first indication that the building is 

 infested. This often necessitates extensive repairing or complete 

 rebuilding after tearing down and removing the infested timber. 



Fig. 5. — Suspended tubes con- 

 structed by termites (Leuco- 

 termes flavipes) of earth and 

 excreted wood, Elkins, Va. 

 Natural size. Drawn by Miss 

 E. Hart. (Author's illustra- 

 tion. ) 



