Formosan subterranean termites didn’t start here — they arrived through the Port of Mobile after World War II, riding home in crates and salvaged material from the Pacific. Eighty years later, Mobile is one of the most heavily infested Formosan cities in the continental U.S. If you own a home anywhere from Midtown to Theodore, this is the termite species your inspection, your treatment, and your bond should be built around.

Three things make Formosans a different animal from the native Eastern subterranean termites Alabama has always had:

• Colony size. A mature Formosan colony can run into the millions of termites — several times the size of a native colony. That is the difference between wood damage that creeps over years and damage that shows up in a single season. When Mobile old-timers talk about a porch column that “went soft in one summer,” this is usually the species they mean.
• Aerial carton nests. Formosans build carton nests — a sponge-like material of chewed wood, saliva, and soil — and they don’t need ground contact to survive if the nest holds moisture. In Mobile they turn up in live oak crotches, flat roofs, and wall voids fed by a slow flashing or plumbing leak. A soil treatment alone can miss an aerial colony completely, which is why a real Formosan inspection goes places a basic pest visit never does.
• Swarm behavior. Native subterraneans swarm in daylight from roughly February through April. Formosans swarm on humid, still evenings in May and June, right around dusk, and they pile up under porch lights and streetlights by the hundreds. If your windowsills are dusted with wings the morning after a warm, sticky night, the calendar alone is telling you which species to suspect.

One more distinction worth knowing before you call: mud versus sawdust. Termites — Formosan or native — build pencil-width mud tubes up piers, foundation walls, and slab joints, and they pack their galleries with soil. Carpenter ants do the opposite: they excavate clean galleries and push out coarse, sawdust-like frass. Mud means termites. Sawdust piles usually mean carpenter ants — still worth a call, but a different problem with a different fix.

All of this is why the annual termite bond is practically a Mobile institution. A bond is a renewable contract with a licensed operator: they inspect the structure every year, and if termites show up on their watch, the retreatment terms in the bond kick in. In a city with this much Formosan pressure, lenders, buyers, and real-estate agents all expect to see one — and the operator this line matches you with can explain exactly what theirs covers before you sign anything.

Because Formosans nest above ground as readily as below it, a thorough Mobile termite inspection covers territory a standard pest visit skips entirely. When the operator walks your property, here’s what should be on their list:

• The attic and rooflines. Carton nests love wall voids and rafter bays fed by a slow roof or flashing leak. An inspector who never asks for the attic access panel is doing half the job.
• Live oaks and tree crotches. Mobile’s signature oaks are prime Formosan real estate. The operator should probe old pruning wounds, crotches, and hollow-sounding trunks on any tree within striking distance of the house — an infested oak is often the launch pad for the swarm that ends up in your walls.
• Slab expansion joints and bath traps. On slab homes in West Mobile and newer subdivisions, the expansion joint and the plumbing penetrations under tubs are the hidden highways. These get probed, not glanced at.
• Piers, sills, and the crawlspace. On pier-and-beam houses in Oakleigh, Midtown, and Old Dauphin Way, that means physically getting under the house with a light and a probe — checking mud tubes on piers, moisture at sill plates, and damage at joist ends.
• A written report with findings. What they found, where, photos of the evidence, the treatment they propose — bait system, liquid barrier, direct nest treatment, or a combination — and the bond terms. Pricing is the operator’s, set after inspection, which is exactly why we don’t publish prices on this site.

If a visit skips the attic, ignores the oaks, and produces a quote without findings, you’re allowed to say no thanks. The quote belongs to the operator, and the decision belongs to you.

• “Is this Formosan or native?” The species call drives colony size, treatment design, and bond terms. A good operator explains how they made the call — swarm timing, swarmer color, soldier head shape — instead of shrugging it off.
• “What’s your ADAI license number?” Termite work in Alabama requires the right license category from the Department of Agriculture & Industries, and the Pesticide Management Section in Montgomery — (334) 240-7240 — can confirm it. A pro expects this question.
• “Show me the evidence.” Mud tubes, carton material, damaged wood, swarmers in a bag — a Formosan quote should come attached to findings you can see with your own eyes or in photos.
• “Bait system, liquid barrier, or both — and why here?” Both approaches are legitimate in Mobile. What matters is the reasoning for your structure — and whether an aerial carton nest needs direct treatment on top of the soil program.
• “What exactly does the bond cover?” Retreatment-only or repair bond? What’s the annual renewal, what voids it, and does it transfer to a buyer if you sell? In Mobile, the bond fine print matters as much as the treatment.