Why Did Formosan Termites Invade Hawaii Long Before They Invaded The Continental US?
Why Did Formosan Termites Invade Hawaii Long Before They Invaded The Continental US?
Subterranean termites are the most widespread and damaging types of termites that exist in the United States. Formosan subterranean termites are the most destructive of all subterranean termite species active in the US. Luckily, Formosans can only survive in the southeastern region of the US. Despite the Formosan’s relatively limited habitat, the damage they cause in states like Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas is relatively alarming. This is because Formosans can reproduce and consume cellulose in wood more rapidly than all other species of termite in the US. Formosan termites are invasive in the US, which makes them more damaging than native termites since their environment does not provide any natural restraints to their feeding activities. Most experts will tell you that Formosans first arrived in the continental US immediately after World War Two ended. Foreign Formosan termites hitched rides to America on military sea vessels that departed from regions in eastern Asia in 1945. However, experts sometimes fail to mention that Formosans were spotted within the Hawaiian islands during the 1860’s. Formosans are also invasive to Hawaii, so how did the termites reach these pacific islands so long ago?
Formosan termites were officially recognized as inhabiting the Hawaiian islands during the year of 1913, long before they arrived in the continental US. However, an old local newspaper from 1869 described the presence of Formosan termites in Hawaii. The newspaper refers to the then unusual insects as “white ants,” but experts seem certain that Formosan termites are the “white ants” being described in the article. In the past, many people in the west referred to termites as white ants. Academics believe that Formosan termites arrived on the Hawaiian islands from Formosa or a region in southern China. During the nineteenth century and before, southeastern Asia and the Kingdom of Hawaii traded many goods, including sandalwood. The traded sandalwood was likely infested with termites from Asia, but Hawaiian authorities at the time did not recognize the potential economic damage that these termites were capable of causing. Today, every resident of Hawaii is familiar with the destructive nature of Formosan termites.
Have you ever witnessed the abundance of termite traps that are placed throughout the Hawaiian Islands while vacationing there?