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Essay:
Termite cause property damage to $1 billion a year in 14 US stateTermites are a homeowner's nightmare under the best of circumstances. But what Patrick saw in his bathroom ceiling that day were not just any termites. They were Formosan termites--the most voracious, aggressive and devious of over 2,000 termite species known to science. Formosan termites can chew their way through beams and plywood nine times as fast as their more laid-back cousins. Their colonies are huge, housing up to 10 million insects. They nest underground, in trees, in walls--just about anywhere there's wood and water. And they're on the move: long confined in the continental U.S. mostly to Louisiana and a handful of other coastal areas, Formosan termites are now happily chewing their way through real estate in 14 states, from Virginia to Hawaii, and causing property damage to the tune of about $1 billion a year. [Lemonick, M.D., 1991
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