05/27/2026
🪵 Tamarac homeowners — the first weeks of June are Formosan termite swarm season in Broward County, and the porch light is the warning sign most people miss.
The Formosan subterranean termite is the most destructive species in South Florida. A mature colony averages 350,000 workers, the queen lays more than 1,000 eggs a day, and the colony can eat roughly 13 ounces of wood every 24 hours — enough cellulose to compromise a load-bearing 2x4 in a few weeks of feeding.
When they swarm, they swarm at dusk on calm, humid evenings within 24–48 hours of a rain, and they are powerfully drawn to light. The University of Florida finds Formosan alates "near windows, light fixtures, window sills, and spider webs around well-lighted areas." Half-inch-long, yellowish-brown wings on the kitchen counter or stuck to a porch fixture the morning after a June thunderstorm is almost always a flight from the night before.
What to watch for the rest of the year:
✅ Mud tubes up foundation walls, pier blocks, and garage corners
✅ Papier-mâché carton nests inside wall voids, soffits, and hollow trees
✅ Hollow-sounding or blistered door frames, baseboards, and rafters
✅ Bulging walls around bath plumbing where slow leaks attract workers
✅ Sagging floors over a slab
✅ Discarded wings in window tracks, sliding-door tracks, lanai frames
✅ Mature oaks, ficus, and slash pines on the property
The USDA puts annual U.S. Formosan damage and control costs above $1 billion. The Florida Department of Agriculture puts the average per-home repair bill in the $10,000 range. Early detection during the June flight window is the highest-leverage moment a homeowner has.
We just published the full Tamarac guide — June swarm timing, how to tell Formosan from drywood and eastern subterraneans, the warning signs of an active colony, what an inspection covers, treatment options, and long-term prevention.
Link in bio for the full breakdown.
https://www.floridapestcontrolcenter.com/blog/formosan-termite-swarms-tamarac-fl-june