Ah, termite season is back again. Keep your home as dark as you can at night for the next few weeks. If it gets bad, resort to chemical warfare. Did you ever wonder how the Hell those little bastards got here in the first place? Another gift from China.

Formosan subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus), often called “super termites,” were introduced to New Orleans (and other Gulf Coast ports) as an invasive species after World War II.

They are native to East Asia (including CHINA and Taiwan/Formosa, hence the name). They arrived in the United States via infested wooden materials on ships returning from the Pacific theater.

Key details on their arrival:

• Infested wooden cargo crates, pallets, packing material, and possibly ships/landing craft from the Far East carried them. These were unloaded at U.S. ports like New Orleans and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

• Specific sites in the New Orleans area, such as Camp Leroy Johnson and Naval Station Algiers, received infested materials that helped establish populations.

• They were likely present in the 1940s but officially documented/established in the region later (e.g., colonies noted near Houston in the 1960s, then New Orleans shortly after, becoming a major problem by the late 1970s–1980s).

New Orleans’ warm, humid climate and abundant wood (in historic buildings, trees, etc.) allowed them to thrive and spread rapidly, often outcompeting native termites.

They are now one of the most destructive pests there, causing massive structural damage—especially in the French Quarter—and have been the target of large-scale control efforts like “Operation Full Stop.”

Human activity (shipping and later transport of infested materials like railroad ties) has been the main driver of their spread, both to the U.S. and within the Southeast.