Mount Pleasant Magazine March/April 2018

87 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasant.Pet | www.MountPleasantBuilders.com feature M ount Pleasant ranks highly on many lists – one of America’s fastest-growing towns, one of the most desirable places to live, award winning schools – but there is one list it tops that is not so prestigious. In South Carolina and areas of North Carolina and Georgia, Terminix Service, Inc. ranks Mount Pleasant first for the number of service calls and appointments involving termites. Termites are attracted to warmth, moisture and, of course, wood, so a humid town riddled with waterways, freshly cut trees and new construction is very inviting to scores of these pests. While the Lowcountry has a native species – the Eastern subterranean termite – Andrew Leilich, owner of Carolina Exterminating, said a bigger problem started in the 1950s when Formosan termites, an invasive species, hitched a ride on some imports from Asia and landed in the Port of Charleston. “Nobody really knew it at first, and they were only in a couple houses downtown,” he explained. “Since then, they’ve been increasing exponentially across the Lowcountry and are why we are one of the most active cities in the nation for termites today. To put it in perspective, native termites live in colonies of 200,000 to 300,000, but Formosans are in colonies of 6 million to 10 million each.” Every year between May and August, millions of Formosan termites scour the Lowcountry, swarming front porch lights and boring holes in wood, often in search of water sources. They look like flying ants but with only two sections, have wings with gold edges and can be a homeowner’s worst nightmare. “They are very aggressive and pretty smart. It’s just crazy,” added Cecil Hernandez, a pesticide regulatory specialist with Clemson’s Department of Pesticide Regulation. He recounted a recent story of a three-story home in the Old Village. While the house was under construction, a section of wood in the ground floor garage was supposed to be treated for termites – but it wasn’t. Five years later, it was discovered that Formosan termites got under the aluminum flashing, bored holes through By Anne Toole A Biting Problem: What’s Eating Away at Mount Pleasant real s at