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West Indian drywood termites in Brisbane homes
The West Indian drywood termite is an introduced species that Business Queensland says is established in Maryborough and many Brisbane suburbs, an extremely destructive pest of structural timber that is hard to detect. Reporting it is no longer required under Queensland law, but, in Business Queensland’s words, “In Queensland, everyone has a general biosecurity obligation to take reasonable measures to minimise the spread of WIDT.”
General information about Queensland’s rules, not legal or pest management advice. Business Queensland’s West Indian drywood termite pages, listed at the foot of this page, are the official place to check.
A termite that never touches the ground
Most of what a Brisbane owner hears about termites is about the ground: the soil, the stumps, the slab edge. This one is different. Drywood termites do not need contact with the ground or with soil moisture; they take the moisture they need from the timber itself. They can reach a building by flying in, or inside infested timber or furniture that is brought in.
Business Queensland calls the West Indian species the world’s most destructive drywood termite, and says it has caused considerable economic damage to timber homes in Queensland. It was first detected in Maryborough in 1966. In Australia it infests only timber in service, and it is not known to live in trees or other vegetation in towns and suburbs.
How it differs from the termites in the ground
Business Queensland sorts the termites that damage buildings into two groups, subterranean and drywood. Set beside the ground-dwelling kind, the West Indian species changes where an owner should look.
| Question | West Indian drywood termite | Subterranean termites |
|---|---|---|
| Where the water comes from | Straight from the wood, which makes them hard to detect. | Contact with the ground keeps their nests and tunnels moist enough to survive. |
| How they reach the house | They can start a colony anywhere in a building and can come in through an open door or window. | Usually from a nest below the ground, building mud galleries over piers or walls to reach the wood. |
| Size of the colony | Small, a few hundred individuals. | Larger, by comparison. |
Telling termites apart is skilled work: Business Queensland says they need to be viewed through a hand lens or microscope of at least tenfold magnification.
What Queensland now asks of an owner
Business Queensland’s reporting page puts it plainly:
“West Indian drywood termite (WIDT) is not regulated biosecurity matter under the Biosecurity Act 2014. This means that reporting and diagnostics are helpful but no longer mandatory.”
Business Queensland, reporting suspected West Indian drywood termite detections
You may still read older advice that a find in Queensland should be notified so the Queensland Government can organise eradication; CSIRO’s termite guide says so. The Queensland department’s own page is the current word, and it says reports are welcome but not required.
What remains is the general biosecurity obligation. Business Queensland says that, because the termite is a destructive introduced pest established in Queensland, everybody has an obligation to take reasonable measures to minimise its spread.
Why a report still helps
Reports let the Department of Primary Industries gather information such as the suburbs where the termite has been reported, which can then be made public. If you think you have seen it, you can report online or phone Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.
A laboratory diagnosis is no longer needed. You can still choose to collect samples for the Plant Biosecurity Laboratory to identify, and if the termite is suspected from a photo, you will be asked for a physical sample to check under a microscope. Or an experienced pest management technician may help identify it and advise on treatment.
Treating it, and who may
Treatment is the owner’s choice and the owner’s cost. In Business Queensland’s words: “If you wish to, you need to contact a licensed pest management technician to treat it (at your own expense).”
It also says to ask the technician for evidence of their pest control licence, as the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 requires, and adds: “This licence must have endorsements for timber pests and fumigation with site environment specified.”
Structural fumigation, known as tenting, is a specialist service, and not every pest management technician is authorised to do it. CSIRO’s guide says a building may need to be tented and fumigated where an extensive drywood infestation cannot be eradicated with foam or dust applied locally. What the law asks of a fumigation is on the fumigation reading, and the notices for an ordinary treatment are on before and after a treatment.
Infested furniture and timber
- Infested timber and furniture can go to an approved fumigation treatment facility, or a technician may be able to treat it on site.
- If you no longer want an infested item, phone 13 25 23 for advice on disposing of it safely.
- Usually, items that have been treated and then wrapped or sealed can go into the general waste stream at your local council’s waste facility.
- There are no restrictions relating to this termite on moving timber products from Queensland to other states.
An inspection that goes into the roof
Business Queensland’s advice for protecting a property is to know the habits of drywood termites and to have regular building inspections. Because a colony can start anywhere in a building, those inspections need to be thorough and should always include the roof and the void space. One of the most effective ways to find it is thermal imaging, with infrared cameras that pick up the heat of the termites huddled together as they feed.
The clue an owner is most likely to see is small. Frass, the termites’ droppings, is often found on windowsills, on bedclothes and on the floor, and the timber close to a pile of it will have a tiny ejection hole, about 1 mm across, that may be sealed and hard to see. Business Queensland asks all Queensland residents to be on the lookout.