Super-Termites Are Munching Across U.S.

March 6 -- Forget about killer bees and voracious fire ants. Aggressive termites that can destroy a new house almost before the paint dries may be heading for a home near you.

Formosan termites cause about $300 million in damages in New Orleans each year, and now they are moving north, east and west. They've already been found in at least 11 states, and scientists say they can attack with such vengeance that they make domestic termites seem almost tame.

East Asian Immigrants

These fierce little critters arrived in southern ports from East Asia at the end of World War II and lay low for decades, gradually increasing their numbers until they were strong enough to attack with gusto. For years now they have plagued New Orleans, which seems to have been built for their specific needs, and scientists have all but given up hope of ever eliminating them from that area.

They've already eaten through scores of structures in the city's famed French Quarter, and when they are finally flushed from a building they take up residence in living trees. Thousands of trees have been killed by the termites, many of which have fallen on structures, causing even more damage.

Ed Bordes, director of the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board, estimates that 30 percent of the city's live oaks and cypress trees are now infested.

Until fairly recently, scientists had thought the termites were pretty well isolated in the Deep South, but that clearly has changed. Damage estimates across several states now range between $1 billion and $2 billion per year, about the same as caused by all the domestic species combined.

Power in Numbers

Formosan termites have established strongholds from Florida to California, and although scientists first thought the termites would restrict their habitat to warm areas, that may not be the case. Those damp basements in northern regions may be very much to their liking.

According to the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is heading up a New Orleans-based Formosan termite project called Operation Full Stop, these hungry little devils are the most voracious termites in the world. Here are a few reasons why: