New Drywood Termite Treatment Discovered

Scientists at UC Riverside have discovered a highly effective, nontoxic, and less expensive way to lure termites to their demise.
This new treatment method was recently featured in the Journal of Economic Entomology. It uses a pleasant-smelling chemical released by forest trees, called pinene. The scent from this chemical will remind western drywood termites of the food they like, and they will follow the scent to a spot where this insecticide was injected into the wood.
“We saw significant differences in the death rates using insecticide alone versus the insecticide plus pinene,” said UCR entomologist Dong-Hwan Choe, who led the discovery. “Without pinene, we got about 70% mortality. When we added it in, it was over 95%.”
The western drywood termite is native to North America. This termite’s job is to consume dead trees, and turn them into a fertilizer for the forest soil. The problem we have is that this termite is unable to distinguish between a dead tree and the wood we use to build homes.
Fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride is one of the most common methods used for controlling these termites. When performed properly, a fumigation can eliminate 100% of all drywood termites.
Unfortunately, there are some homes that aren’t always easy to fumigate, such as apartments, and condominiums. That is because it can be difficult to get all of the residents to pick a date, and have everyone move out for three days and two nights. Having an alternative treatment method for situations like these, could prove to be very useful.
“This is a more localized treatment, and in theory, it is a better strategy when you want to control drywood termites with fewer chemicals. It’s less expensive, and the treated wood may also stay protected from future infestations,” Dr. Choe said.
One of the problems we have, when doing localized treatments, is finding the exact location of where the termites are living. With the products we currently use, they have to be injected into the precise areas where the termites will come in contact with them. In other words, it you miss the spot, the insects will not be affected by the product.
When using an attractant like pinene, it will help to eliminate the need to find the exact location of where the termites are living. “Even at low concentrations, pinene is good at attracting termites from a distance,” Dr. Choe said.
There is a lot of research that still needs to be done. Let’s hope that all goes well on this project so we will soon have an effective treatment alternative.