Laboratory studies have identified various semiochemicals as either attractants, arrestants, or feeding stimulants for subterranean termites. Because of differences in the design of the bioassays and, in some cases, the termite species used in these studies, it is difficult to determine the relative effect of these chemicals on the behavior of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. This study evaluates the effect of these chemicals, and of semiochemicals produced by lignin-degrading fungi, on the feeding and foraging behavior of the Formosan subterranean termite in order to determine which chemicals would be most likely to improve the efficacy of baits for termite control. Laboratory bioassays were conducted to determine whether various chemicals acted as feeding stimulants by measuring differences in the consumption of filter paper disks treated with different concentrations of each chemical compared with solvent-treated disks. Laboratory bioassays were also conducted to determine if chemicals could cause directed foraging behavior by comparing the tunneling behavior of termites in sand treated with different concentrations of each chemical compared with solvent-treated sand.
Species 1: Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Coptotermes formosanus (Formosan subterranean termite)
Keywords: termite control, bait
Back to Ten-Minute Papers, Subsection Fb. Urban Entomology
Back to Ten-Minute Papers, Section F. Crop Protection Entomology, Subsections Fa and Fb
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition