Aussie‘s alarming find on front door step: ‘Leave now’

A Sydney resident has revealed an alarming find on his front door step after a string of hot summer days.

The homeowner shared an image on social media of “thousands” of insects, believed to be termites, on his front door mat.

“Woke up to thousands of these insects dead at my front door. What are they?” they posted to Reddit.

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“Believe it or not, there’s a lovely welcome doormat under all that.”

Experts say the problem is widespread in Sydney, where termites thrive in the warmer months.

Sydney University Professor Dieter Hochuli told 7NEWS.com.au swarming termites is an “iconic sign” of hot, humid summer days, coupled with a few storms.

“Termites are unbelievably successful animals because of their social lifestyle and ability to transfer nutrients through ecosystems, and most species don’t really affect our way of life in a negative way,” he said.

“However, we also share our urban world with a few species that sometimes take up the opportunity to eat the structural parts of our houses.”

While Hochuli says this swarm is not cause for alarm, the image left many Reddit users uncomfortable.

“I don’t know, but leave now,” one person said.

“I would just move houses,” another added.

Others shared their own experiences with swarms of termites in recent months.

“To me, they signify the first day of summer. I never knew they were termites though,” one person said.

“Damn I woke up to a bunch of these on my bed the other night when I had the window open for breeze,” another added.

Hochuli said termites are “thriving” in many parts of Sydney.

“If you live in these areas it’s really important to get regular inspections and stop little problems becoming big problems,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean that you need to use a lot of very toxic chemicals around your house, there are a lot of treatments that are environmentally friendly and very effective, and things like good under floor ventilation are also useful for creating places termites don’t want to be.”