Which States Have No Termites?

Which States Have No Termites?
••• tree stump weathered 1. image by mdb from Fotolia.com

Termites destroy approximately $5 billion worth of wood structures every year in the United States and Canada, according to the National Pest Control Institute. To put that into perspective, that's larger than Federal Emergency Management Agency's estimate for the total amount of damage done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Different types of termites live in different parts of the country.

A State Without Termites?

The only state in the United States that doesn't (apparently) have home damage from termites is Alaska, where the cold winters kill termite colonies off. Even this is in doubt, though, as parts of the Alaskan Panhandle, where Juneau and Ketchikan are, are adjacent to parts of British Columbia that have subterranean termites.

States With Limited Termite Exposure

In general, termites need four things to survive: moisture, cellulose to eat, protection from predators and enough warmth to get through the winter. Consequently, the farther north you go in the United States, the less likely a termite infestation will be, and the drier the climate, the less likely a termite problem will be. Dry states with cold winters, such as Montana and North Dakota, have almost no termite infestations natively but sometimes have termite problems caused by moving infested furniture.

Types of Termites by Locale

There are three broad categories of native termite in the United States, and one invasive species of termite. The three native varieties are the subterranean termite, which is found across the country, the dry wood termite, which is limited largely to the southern row of states in the United States, and damp wood and Formosan termites, which require more moisture and are common along the Gulf Coast. The Formosan termite is an invasive species from Asia.

Related Articles

Facts About Termites
What Do Termites Look Like?
How to Calculate a Linear Yard
What Are the Functions of the Grassland Ecosystem?
What Are EPA Phase 2 Fireplace Inserts?
Ants of Ohio
Naphthalene Poisoning and Termites
Insects That Eat Wood
How to Measure Wood Density
What Are the Harmful Effects of Insects?
Poisonous Spiders in the Northeast
Do Chipmunks Burrow in the Ground?
The Negative Impacts on the Environment by Making Maple...
Can Diesel Fuel Tanks Be Stored Inside Buildings?
Do Cockroaches Die in the Winter?
How to Convert Pounds Per Square Foot to PSI
Copperhead Snakes in Upstate New York
How to Calculate the Acreage of a Triangle
What Rodents Live in Colorado?
The Biting Bugs & Insects Found in North Carolina

Dont Go!

We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!