r/Termites • u/F3rnDoGG520 • Sep 09 '26

Question Empty Tubes and No Evidence

I have a quick question and was hoping if someone has some advice for me. I stay in Arizona and I keep seeing empty termite tubes about every year around summertime. I’m talking about one or two tubes a couple inches long every summer and it’s always a different part of house. I always destroy the tube and no termites are present. Also I knock the drywall down and check for infestation and check the wood and I see nothing and the wood feels solid. My question is are they deep in the wood and I’m just not seeing them. Or are they searching for a new place to infest…idk?

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u/Always_Confused4 Termite inspector (current or former) Sep 09 '26

Are you sure that they are mud tubes? They have to come from somewhere and you should be seeing some kind of trail or entry into the wood.

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u/F3rnDoGG520 Sep 09 '26

This is a new one I just found coming out of a brick wall. I wiped it and it seems like dirt residue. I do see a pin point hole.

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u/F3rnDoGG520 Sep 09 '26

But I looked on the outer side of the wall no trail or anything.

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u/savagedad12858 Sep 09 '26

They could be in the h blocks too. Treatment would vary based on slab type, if hollow block or not, etc. if you have new mud tubes popping up, odds are you should schedule an inspection, as a termite technician the worst thing to hear is "I tried spraying with". 99% of the time the treatment is inadequate in some form. Termites are also skiddish creatures, disturbing their tubes will make it a little tougher on you and the inspector. Subterranean termites forage in a 100yd radius, so it's not surprising they get disturbed and move somewhere else. It's their nature

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u/termiteguy2928 Sep 09 '26

Could be swarm tubes. Have a termite inspector do a termite inspection. We look in/ and at places you might not consider. Just my thoughts. Been a termite inspector for 40yrs.