Termite Control Services in Mid-Missouri

Termites can sometimes be difficult to identify, as they can come in several different appearances based on their role in the colony. Overall, Eastern Subterranean Termites are the most commonly found in mid-Missouri homes, and the most destructive. There are three main types of termites in a colony: soldier termites, winged reproductive termites, and worker termites.

Different Types of Termites in Mid-Missouri

Soldier termites in mid-Missouri have a rectangular, orange-brownish head with large mandibles. Their job is to defend the colony, food gathering area, and the worker termites causing the real damage. While soldier termites do not take up much of the colony population, they have an important role in protecting worker termites and plugging mud tubes so they can continue to pass in and out of your mid-Missouri home!

Winged Reproductive Termites, or “swarmers,” are only produced by the queen once the colony has become a well-established termite infestation. The queen can produce as many as 20,000-30,000 swarmers per year! In the mid-Missouri spring, Winged Reproductive Termites will intuitively leave the current termite infestation to seek out a mate and start a new colony. It’s important to make sure Steve’s Pest Control finishes termite treatment on your mid-Missouri home before these swarmers take flight and spread even more colonies among the area!

Worker Termite

Worker termites are pale or white, and cause the majority of termite damage in mid-Missouri homes. Worker termites will consume and defecate soil to make pheromone-scented trails, also known as mud tubes. Look for these mud tubes along walls as a sign of termite damage to your mid-Missouri home! Once they find wood they quickly consume it, return to their colony and regurgitate it to feed the others. Before too long, worker termites will cause your home thousands of dollars worth of property damage.

• While there are over 2,500 species of termites around the world, only four species of termites naturally occur in mid-Missouri, all of which are subterranean. 

• Worker termites live 4-5 years, but the queen of a termite colony can live up to 50 years and lay an egg every 15 seconds! That’s more and more opportunities for termites in your mid-Missouri home to continue wreaking havoc. 

• In Missouri, there can be as many as 20 termite colonies in one acre of ground and up to 1 million members per colony. 



• Termite problems in mid-Missouri typically originate from colonies located underground between 3-12 feet beneath the surface.