Will Termites Eat Cedar Siding

This is the dry non living inner part of the tree truck.

Will termites eat cedar siding.

Redwood is naturally resistant to termites and decay and often is used in outdoor projects. They travel through soil to reach wood seldom venturing into view. Now you may be wondering why they even eat wood at all. Trees and wood are their preferred diet and make up the majority of what they eat but termites can also feed on paper as well as other materials commonly used at home.

While they can eat any type of wood there are some species they prefer to avoid as much as possible. Cellulose is a substance contained in the cell walls of plants that gives them their rigid structure. Only certain parts of these woods are resistant the heartwood and occasionally the bark. When they ve expended those food sources they often create feeder tubes hollow channels in your siding that destroy the structural integrity of the wood.

Heartwood contains less cellulose than the outer sapwood making it less nutritious for termites. Termites are repelled by the resins in cedar lumbar. Over time the wood will begin to break down and the resinous decay will be attractive to termites. Some scientists have even found that these resins are toxic to the termites that decide to ingest them.

So termites will eat cedar if they have to. Termites can eat cedar but they tend to stay away from it because cedar wood has resin and oil that tends to repel them. The answer is simple. Also keep in mind that the same issue with the drainage applies with any type of mulch including cedar mulch.

As their name indicates subterranean termites live below ground in the soil. Cedar is a type of wood that is somewhat naturally resistant to termites. However over time these resins break down and cedar loses its repellent capabilities. Same issue with cedar mulch.

Subterranean termites live underground feeding on wood surfaces buried below the surface. These pests will stay away from cedar at first however this won t always be the case. However as with all wood and even lumber resins and sap seep out of the wood over time. While this is a good idea in theory the fact of the matter is that termites feed specifically on cellulose means they have the ability to feed on essentially any plant matter.

Unlike carpenter bees and carpenter ants termites eat the wood they infest.