What do termite nests look like?

Termite nests look very different depending on species, with subterranean termites, drywood termites, and Formosan termites each building distinct nest types that can be found in soil, wood, or above ground. Subterranean termite nests are not typically visible as a single mound in most US homes because they live underground in large colonies with millions of members, but they build telltale mud tubes which are pencil-width tunnels made of soil, wood particles, and saliva running up foundation walls, inside crawl spaces, and over concrete to protect themselves from light and dry air while traveling from soil to wood, plus they create muddy galleries inside wood that looks like dark soil packing. Drywood termite nests are inside the wood they infest, so you do not see a nest outside, but you see small piles of frass which are wood-colored droppings that look like sawdust or tiny pellets pushed out of kick-out holes in infested wood, plus blistered or hollow-sounding wood. Formosan termites, a more aggressive subterranean type found in the South, build large above-ground carton nests made of chewed wood and soil that look like dark spongy masses in attics, walls, and trees, sometimes as big as a basketball, containing thousands of termites. Termite mounds in Africa can be tall dirt towers, but US subterranean nests are diffuse underground. If you see mud tubes, frass piles, or spongy carton material, contact a professional pest control company for inspection because these signs indicate active colonies requiring treatment with liquid barriers or bait systems.