FIELD-EVALUATION OF A HEXAFLUMORON BAIT FOR POPULATION SUPPRESSION OF SUBTERRANEAN TERMITES (ISOPTERA, RHINOTERMITIDAE)

A baiting procedure that incorporated a matrix containing a chitin synthesis inhibitor, hexaflumuron, was evaluated against field colonies of the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), and the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. Wooden stakes were first driven into the soil to detect the presence of termites. Bait tubes were placed in soil where termites were detected. A self-recruiting procedure, in which termites collected from wooden stakes were forced to tunnel through the matrix in the bait tubes, significantly increased bait intake by termites. Approximately 4-1,500 mg of hexaflumuron was needed for 90-100% reduction of field populations containing 0.17-2.8 million foragers per colony.