Last Updated: 2026 | Reviewed by The PCC Research Team
Termites often target the binding and center of books where moisture is retained the longest. Here, live workers are caught actively hollowing out the pages of a novel, leaving nothing but dirt and debris behind.
There is a massive misconception in the real estate and pest control industries about what termites actually eat. Homeowners often believe their concrete slab or pressure-treated deck makes them immune. The reality is far more complex.
Termites do not eat wood because they like the taste; they eat wood to extract cellulose, a rich organic compound found in all plant-based materials. To fully protect your property, you must understand the critical difference between what termites eat for survival and what they simply destroy to get to their next meal.
Why Do Termites Eat Wood?
Wood is composed primarily of cellulose, an energy-rich complex carbohydrate that forms the structural foundation of plants. However, termites themselves actually lack the enzymes required to break down cellulose.
Instead, their digestive tracts are packed with symbiotic microbes, bacteria, and protozoa. When a termite worker consumes wood, these microscopic gut organisms break the cellulose down into simple sugars and short-chain fatty acids, which the termite then absorbs for energy. Without these microbes, a termite could eat its weight in timber and still starve to death.
The Wood Vulnerability Table
Not all lumber is created equal. While subterranean and drywood termites prefer softwoods like Pine and Douglas Fir—the standard framing materials in California homes—they will attack almost anything if desperate enough.
| Material | Risk Level | The Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Pine & Fir (Softwoods) | Extreme Risk | The absolute favorite food for all termite species. Unfortunately, 90% of residential structural framing uses these exact woods. |
| Drywall / Sheetrock | High Risk | They don’t eat the gypsum core, but they heavily devour the thick paper backing on both sides, compromising the wall. |
| Plywood & OSB | Moderate Risk | While the glues and resins can deter them slightly, they will absolutely consume the wood plies over time. |
| Cedar & Redwood | Low Risk | Heartwood contains natural oils (allelochemicals) that are toxic to termites. However, sapwood portions of cedar can still be eaten. |
| Pressure Treated Wood | Low Risk | Chemical preservatives (like copper azole) make the exterior highly toxic. But if the wood cracks or is cut, termites will enter the untreated core. |
| Bamboo | Low Risk | Technically a grass, bamboo is naturally resistant due to a hard silica outer shell, but susceptible if unsealed or untreated. |
| Live Trees & Grass | Minimal Risk | Subterranean termites will eat the dead heartwood inside a living tree, but they rarely attack healthy, living vascular tissue. Formosans are the exception. |
Consuming vs. Tunneling: The Concrete Myth
A significant volume of structural failure comes from materials termites don’t even digest. This is the difference between an organic food source and a physical barrier.
No, termites do not eat concrete, brick, or mortar. They cannot digest it. However, as concrete foundations settle and age, microscopic hairline cracks form. Termite workers are incredibly small and can exploit cracks as thin as 1/32 of an inch (roughly the thickness of a credit card). They will happily tunnel through these fractures, expanding them over time to reach the wooden sill plates sitting above your foundation.
Plastics, Cables, and Clothes
- Plastics & PVC: Termites don’t digest plastic, but their mandibles are sharp enough to chew right through underground PVC pipes, buried electrical cables, and rigid foam insulation to get to food on the other side.
- Clothes & Fabric: Yes. Cotton, linen, and hemp are all plant-derived fabrics rich in cellulose. If infested wood is near a closet, termites will happily chew through cotton shirts, towels, and bedsheets.
- Paper, Cardboard & Books: These are essentially pure, pre-processed cellulose. A stack of damp cardboard boxes in a garage is practically a magnet for subterranean termites.
Visual Evidence: The Complete Destruction of Pure Cellulose
Books and paper goods provide a concentrated, pre-processed food source. Below is visual proof of how rapidly subterranean workers can turn personal libraries into mud-lined carton nests.
What Eats Termites? (Natural Predators)
While termites sit high on the list of human pests, they sit incredibly low on the biological food chain. They are a massive, defenseless protein source for hundreds of species.
- Ants (The Ultimate Nemesis): Ants are the single greatest biological threat to termites. Carpenter ants and fire ants regularly raid termite galleries, massacre the workers, and haul them away for food.
- Spiders & Insects: Wolf spiders, centipedes, and predatory beetles actively hunt termite workers and swarmers that emerge above ground.
- Birds: When swarmers take to the sky in the spring, birds like swallows, swifts, and specifically woodpeckers feast on them. Woodpeckers will actively listen for the acoustic vibrations of termite colonies inside trees and peck through the bark to extract them.
- Lizards, Frogs & Chickens: In residential settings, domestic chickens, yard lizards, and toads will gorge themselves on any termites exposed during landscaping or swarming events.
- Moles: Underground, moles will absolutely eat subterranean termites if they tunnel into an active gallery, though they generally prefer larger grubs and earthworms.
Yes. In many parts of Africa, South America, and Asia, termites are considered a nutritional delicacy. They are extremely high in protein, healthy fats, and calcium. They are typically collected during massive swarming events and are either roasted, fried, or ground into flour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why do termites eat wood?
A: Termites eat wood to harvest cellulose. Their stomachs contain specialized symbiotic protozoa and bacteria that convert this complex plant fiber into simple sugars for energy.
Q: Do termites eat pressure treated wood?
A: They generally avoid it due to the toxic chemical preservatives infused into the exterior. However, if the wood splits over time or is cut during construction, exposing the untreated core, termites will enter and eat the center from the inside out.
Q: Do ants eat termites?
A: Yes, ants are the primary natural predators of termites. Carpenter ants and fire ants frequently invade termite nests, overwhelm the defensive soldier caste, and drag the workers away to feed their own colonies.
Q: Can termites eat concrete?
A: No. Termites do not have the mandibles to chew through solid concrete, nor can they digest it. However, as foundations naturally settle, microscopic cracks form. Termites squeeze through these cracks to reach the wooden framing above.
Q: Do termites eat drywall?
A: They do not eat the gypsum core of the drywall, but they will aggressively consume the thick paper backing on both sides of the sheetrock, as paper is essentially pure cellulose.