TERMITES

The termites, insects belonging to the order of Isoptera, eat wood and all other cellulose materials (cardboard, paper...). In Metropolitan France, the principal species damaging the buildings are the subterranean termites Reticulitermes, whose colonies are localised in the soil. These termites seek their food on the surface by building tubes which protect them from the light.

The termites are particularly fearsome because :
- they attack all types of woods,
- their infestation is discrete (no exit holes on the surface of the wood),
- their elaborate social organization enables them to adapt to the new situations,
- their geographical area of activity extends little by little, in particular towards the cities of the north of the Loire (inter alia Paris).