Field plate · Reticulitermes flavipes
Eastern subterranean termite
The quiet structural pest of Pennsylvania: lives in soil, feeds in wood, and shows itself in spring swarms and mud tubes.
Plate 15 of 28. Drawn in profile to the identification marks named below; the scale rule is a drawing convention — sizes are given in the text.
Identification marks
Workers are soft, pale, and about 5 mm; soldiers have rectangular amber heads. Swarmers — the stage people see — are dark, about 9 mm with four equal, smoky wings that shed in piles by windows in March to May.
Look-alikes it is confused with
Ant swarmers are the confusion, every spring: termites have straight, beaded antennae, no waist, and equal wings; ants have elbowed antennae, a pinched waist, and longer front wings. Keep a specimen in a jar — the identification decides the treatment.
Where it hides in a house
Colonies live in soil and reach wood through mud tubes on foundation walls, piers, and plumbing. Feeding shows in basement sills, stair stringers, porch posts, and any wood in ground contact — common in older Erie houses with damp crawlspaces.
Health & property risk, stated plainly
Structural and expensive when years pass unnoticed. Termites hollow members from inside, leaving a painted shell over damage that only a probe or a failed floor reveals.
What actually works
Professional work: a soil treatment zone or a monitored bait system around the structure, mud-tube inspection inside, and moisture correction — grade soil away, fix gutters, ventilate, and remove wood-to-ground contact and stored wood against the foundation.
What doesn't
Spot-spraying swarmers (they are the symptom, not the colony), hardware-store stakes placed without monitoring, and ignoring a swarm because it stopped — the colony did not stop.
When to call a licensed pro
Always. Termite identification, treatment, and any damage assessment belong to a licensed applicator and, where members are weakened, a builder. Get the inspection in writing.