I came across this scene while inspecting an outdoor kitchen. It is becoming an all too familiar sight. Sure enough, when I met with the pest service to examine the area they confirmed it to be ... drywood termites.
These termites don't come from underground like the subterranean variety, but fly in to where they set up home. In this case since the cabinets were relatively new, they may have come via the wood used to build the cabinets for an outdoor kitchen. Unfortunately, before the wood is used it is very difficult to tell if it is infested with termites until they eventually bore tiny holes (kick outs) and begin pushing their frass (waste material) out from their chambers. It was explained to me that they expel these pellets through tiny holes they bore (pic below) when they feel they are running out of space in their current chambers. The color of the pellets is determined by the type of the wood they are eating.
These termites don't come from underground like the subterranean variety, but fly in to where they set up home. In this case since the cabinets were relatively new, they may have come via the wood used to build the cabinets for an outdoor kitchen. Unfortunately, before the wood is used it is very difficult to tell if it is infested with termites until they eventually bore tiny holes (kick outs) and begin pushing their frass (waste material) out from their chambers. It was explained to me that they expel these pellets through tiny holes they bore (pic below) when they feel they are running out of space in their current chambers. The color of the pellets is determined by the type of the wood they are eating.
If there is a positive side to this species, it is that they eat very slowly and take many years to do significant damage - unlike their subterranean cousins. In a typical case these termites would be in this wood anywhere between 2 - 10 years before damage like this would be noticed. Even in these pictures the damage looks much worse than it is actuality. If you could look inside these panels, you would find that very little of the wood has been eaten.
The most common method to eradicate drywood termites is tenting of the property or injecting the cabinets with a foam pesticide. I have included a link below that shows how the injecting process is done.
If you want to learn more about drywood termites, I've included a link to the Florida Department of Agriculture.
If you want to learn more about drywood termites, I've included a link to the Florida Department of Agriculture.
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