Termite infestations in urban areas are a serious problem because they cause negative economic effects, reduce the esthetic value of buildings, damage crops, and require household repairs. Chemical controls are the most common method used against subterranean termites, and baiting has emerged as one of the prominent control methods. The goal of this research was to determine the efficacy of termite baiting by treating one of six active termite stations (selective baiting) with chlorfluazuron baits to eradicate six populations of subterranean termites. This work shows that the placement of chlorfluazuron baits in one of the active stations was sufficient to destroy a colony that was interconnected with multiple chlorfluazuron-free stations. In general, it requires an average of 4–8 weeks for a quantity of less than 300 g of chlorfluazuron bait to remove a termite infestation at the study site.
In a natural ecosystem, termites play an important role as a decomposer since termite can digest cellulose. Termites can be considered as pests once they had exerted substancial economical damages, such as Coptotermes spp known to be a major termite pests. Termites will cause a serious problem when the infestation occurred in urban areas as they give negative economic effects, reducing the value aesthetic of the buildings which lead to expensive building maintenance and repair. Chemical controls are the most common method used against pests of urban forests in Malaysia. The objectives of this studies are to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment by treating one active station out of all active termite stations (selective baiting) by using chlorfluazuron termite baits. Form the result, a termite colony population can be eliminated in selective termite baiting treatment. Elimination of termite population by selective termite baiting treatment was successful with the aid of termite behavior of trophallaxis which is the sharing of the bait toxicants among the termite nest mates. This sharing of toxicant among the nest mates circulates the active ingredients throughout the colony thus eradicate the colony along the process. Regardless of how many in ground station and above ground stations, baits placement in one out of all active stations was more than enough to kill the colony as all interceptor’s station shares the same tunnelling pathways which lead to the same colony. Chlorfluazuron baits need an average 4-8.6 weeks to eliminate termite infestation at the study sites. Furthermore, this method can cut the cost on total termiticide (bait) used. Thus, time can be save the during the baiting inspections due only single station to be monitored as reduction of termite activities in one station represent the reduction of activity in other stations only if the termite are originated from the same colony
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