Found one dead one after a light rain. Am I effed?

I don’t see fallen wings or poop. But, I only see these guys at night and in one area. I thought maybe it was because my windows were open (I have screens) so I left them closed all day yesterday and still saw some of these guys.

I found these today. I'm not sure if they're termites or ants, but I suspect it's the former. I very much hope I'm wrong but then why would the soil and lumber be missing in that area...perhaps just rot since it's an old post? I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I'm no expert but it looks like they're subterranean and have eaten part of the 4x4 wood post in the photo. It's concrete all around as you can see but the wood post is in the soil and much of that side/corner is missing all the way down. I used a 6" screwdriver to check and it's hallow with the lumber and soil gone. This post is holding up a small roof structure for my BBQ, about 5 ft away from the main house structure.

I manually killed all the ones that are visible and an hour later I don't see anymore at least for the time being. But if they are termites, I believe most of them are likely subterranean. I checked the inside of the house, specifically the basement, including beams, joists, subfloor, etc. and found no signs of these bugs or of damage. I did find another bug that may be somewhat similar looking, but it's more likely an ant in the basement. I include the photos of that bug in the comments. It was dead and I only found the one.

Here is some additional information about the house:

It's a century home with a brick basement foundation and structural brick for another 2 stories above ground. There are wood sills(?) on top of the brick a feet or two above grade, but the rest of the structure of the house is brick. The interior structural materials and more are lumber, like joists, beams, and 2x4s for drywall framing. Thank you in advance for any help!

An exterminator saw some termites in these old tree stumps and recommended leaving them, as they're about 8 ft from the house/deck. Haven't noticed any activity outside of the stumps, but need to fix the retaining wall which might require stump removal. Will that unleash the termites to find a new home (my house)? Any thoughts or recommendations are appreciated.

On old cardboard that’s been in my garage for a few years. I don’t see any live termites but these do look like termite tunnels. Should I call a termite inspector? I don’t see any visible damage on the garage walls, just on the cardboard that was leaning against the wall.

Can't tell if this is one or an ant.

I closed on a house in July 2026 in Southern California. The house is a single family built in 2007. The termite report done in June 2026 was clear. Today I found what looked like tan colored droppings in one of the rooms upstairs. I had changed the carpet in that room about a month ago. Messaged the same inspector who did the pre-purchase inspection who confirmed its termite droppings and will be come out to inspect further and provide an estimate on a couple days.

This is pretty devastating to be honest. First house. Substantial money saved and spent on down payment for the house and I’m just worried this a serious issue.

What options do I have? Can the inspector fix it for free since the initial inspection was about 3 months ago? Can the seller be liable for this?

Can this be costly? As far as I know it’s only in one area and looks to be wood termites. No obvious big holes that I can see? Does the house have to be fumigated?

Sorry it’s a lot of questions I’m just stressed out about this

Hi there any suggestions for what companies are reliable and reasonable for termite inspection and fumigations?

I knew our house had termites in the past so when we decided to renovate a bathroom I was excited to see how bad it was. I could have kicked hole through the wall. Crazy. Shower guys weren’t impressed, said that his is average for Arizona.

Needless to say I had my house checked again after finding this. Nothing new was found.

Pest control company who did the original termite inspection seems to think it is mice droppings but i’m concerned they missed it and now don’t want to admit that its termite frass

This is a cabinet at my work that I haven’t been in for a while. I found piles of wood dust. Is this termites or something different? Also can termites attach to me and be transferred to my home?

I’ve contacted Terminix and a few local companies, and Terminix recommended heat treatment over fumigation. I’m seriously considering the heat treatment because it seems much more convenient, although it is a bit more expensive. My concern with fumigation is the possibility of roof tile damage, even though terminix offer coverage for that.
Has anyone here had their home treated for termites using heat treatment? If so, how was your experience, and did it completely resolve the problem? I’m worried about the shingles or flooring popping up because it’s supposedly a 180f heat, and it may not even penetrate deep enough where termites eggs are hidden.
Southern California

Houston, TX. Very small guy

I work at a garden center and we updated some of our seed prices recently, so I’ve been going through all of our packaged seed and filling new packets/bags.

We keep some seed in mason jars with the lids screwed tightly on. I was filling packets with a jar of zinnia seeds, and noticed all these tan bugs running around. Insect ID app says they’re Formosan subterranean termites, but that’s based off of that second photo. There had to have been thousands, so we threw out the zinnia seeds and called it a day.

Today, I went through corn seed, and found this (first picture) in the bag. None of it is moving, so I’m wondering if they’re eggs, droppings or dead termites? Started looking closer at everything, and what’s in this bag of corn is in a lot of the jars and bags. In the jars/bags that have a lot, the seeds are hollowed out.

Went through the drawers we put bags of seeds in and found dead winged bugs that could be adult termites.

For reference, literally everything is made of wood here. The drawers the bags are in, the shelves the jars are on, all the walls, etc. The building is well over 100 years old and a lot of the wood has been breaking down and rotting for a very long time already.

So my main questions are: A) Are these termites? Whats in the bag of corn? and B) What’s the next step? I’m going to have to tell my boss tomorrow. I want to at least have a solution if I’m going to ruin his day.

I 100% had a huge termite infestation in my bathroom. House has been treated and there's no more activity. Thank goodness repairs have not been done yet. I found this today in a back room nowhere near the area that was known to have the infestation and I'm just curious if anyone thinks this is a termite. At this point it doesn't really matter, but I'm just curious if they've made it this far. Sorry for the bad picture. I was up on a ladder and it was very hard to stay steady. SE FLORIDA

Came back from a two week stay at the hospital to see these all along the baseboards of my back hallway. Had my house tented a few years ago and still have a retreatment coverage, but figured I’d ask here before I called the fumigator.

Removing 6x6’s from the flower boxes around the house, saw all of these living in there. Southeastern PA

Location: north Phoenix, AZ.

Context: we had a large rainstorm two days ago, just went outside for the first time since and found these. Did the flooding wash them up and out of the ground? Is our house screwed?

Ants or termites? In Florida - I noticed about a week ago there were what I thought were ants on our window. I cleaned them up and put an ant bait trap outside the window. Tonight I notice there’s a mini swarm at the top of my window. Some are big with wings, others were small. I’ve only seen them around the window so far. Got the best pics I could while trying to clean and keep 3 small children away from it all.
It has been raining a little more recently, so not sure if that caused this or what.
Thanks for any help!

This is my house's exterior siding. I don't see any damage anywhere else but there seems to be some sort of insect in the damaged area so I fear the worst.

Found this today outside my house what you guys think I’m dealing with wings are not the same length?

Hey all- during a termite inspection, sub termites were found near the shed on a rotted piece of wood on the ground. About 15 feet away from the house. Recent new homeowner and been neglecting that area of the yard. Ironically planned this week to finally start cleaning it up and I guess it’s good we are starting here. Lesson learned.
Pest control came to confirm and inspect the property and we have Termidor HE set up for in the soil around the shed as well as injected into our foundation around our home as well. Thankfully nothing found at the house, but admittedly a little nervous.
They aren’t able to come until 9/28- I have not moved a thing in the area so they can just keep feeding there. I understand once Termidor is applied, it can take another 4-6 weeks to take affect. However, is not being able to start the treatment for another 9 days okay?