Technician

A homeowner reports large numbers of winged termites (swarmers) emerging inside the living space of the structure. What does this most reliably indicate?

• The swarmers blew in from a neighbor's yard and pose no concern
• An established termite colony is infesting the structure ✓
• A new colony is just beginning and no wood has been eaten yet
• The wings prove the insects are flying ants, not termites

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In a subterranean termite colony, which caste actually consumes wood and is therefore responsible for the structural damage found in a home?

• Soldiers
• Workers ✓
• Winged reproductives (alates)
• The queen

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A technician finds pencil-width earthen tubes running up an exposed concrete pier from the soil to the floor joists. What is the primary biological purpose these shelter (mud) tubes serve for subterranean termites?

• They protect the workers from the drying effects of air and let them travel between the soil and wood without exposure ✓
• They are spent egg cases discarded by the queen after a swarm
• They store excess cellulose as a food cache for the dry season
• They are mating chambers built only during the spring swarm

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Compared with drywood termites, what foraging characteristic typically distinguishes native subterranean termites such as Reticulitermes flavipes?

• They live entirely inside the dry wood they infest and never contact soil
• They typically nest in or near the soil and must maintain a moist connection to it, foraging out to reach wood ✓
• They require standing water and infest only submerged or floating timber
• They feed exclusively on living tree roots and never enter structures

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A homeowner sweeps up a small pile of identical translucent shed wings on an interior window sill in spring. For a pest control technician, what does this finding most directly indicate?

• A reproductive swarm has occurred and the structure may be infested, warranting inspection ✓
• The colony has died and no further activity is possible
• The wings are the raw material termites use to construct their mud tubes
• It rules out termites and confirms a fly or moth problem instead

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Termite bait toxicants are deliberately slow-acting (delayed). What is the primary reason a bait is designed this way rather than to kill on contact?

• So foraging workers survive long enough to carry and share the active ingredient with nestmates through trophallaxis, spreading it through the colony ✓
• So the bait remains legal for sale to homeowners under federal pesticide law
• So the active ingredient breaks down before it can contaminate nearby soil and groundwater
• So a single bait station can protect the structure without any follow-up monitoring
• So the bait works equally well on both drywood and subterranean termites

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An in-ground termite bait station combines a slow-acting insecticide with a food substrate the foraging termites will eat. What material makes up that food matrix, and what is a recognized practical limitation of baiting compared with a liquid termiticide?

• Borate salts; baiting protects the structure faster than any liquid treatment
• A petroleum-based gel; baiting requires no monitoring once the stations are installed
• Powdered fipronil dust; baiting works only on the swarmer (alate) caste
• Cellulose (a structural component of wood); baiting is relatively slow-acting and the stations must be monitored over time ✓
• Diatomaceous earth; baiting kills the colony within 48 hours of installation

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An inspector finds pencil-width earthen tubes running up the interior of a foundation wall. This finding is best described as:

• Drywood termite fecal pellets accumulating on the wall
• Carpenter ant frass pushed from a gallery
• The most commonly seen evidence of a subterranean termite infestation ✓
• Normal mineral efflorescence leaching from the concrete

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