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TERMITE CONTROL

Gary W. Bennett, Extension Entomologist

Termites are social insects with several types ofindividuals in a colony, each type serving the colony in adifferent way. Winged reproductive forms swarm frommature colonies to disperse and establish new colonies.Worker termites, the ones that damage wood by eatingthe springwood layers, are white and soft-bodied; theyfeed the other forms in the colony and expand the nestsize. Soldier termites with enlarged mandibles (teeth) areresponsible for protecting the colony from intruders.Termites need wood for food and soil for moisture.Wood in contact with soil, then, is ideal for termite devel-opment. But if this does not occur, the insects may build“shelter tubes” to bridge or span foundation walls andother masonry that separate wood from soil. They con-struct these tubes on the wal

ls or inside them in voids andcracks. Occasionally, when a leaky roof or pipe providesmoisture, termi

te infestations are established without soilcontact.Infestations generally develop from colonies in soil,and the termites enter the building through structuralwood or foundation walls adjacent to the soil. In cases ofhouses built partly or completely on slabs, infestation isthrough expansion joints, cracks, and utility and sewerpipe openings.Whether pretreating at the time of construction ortreating an existing structure, the basic principle of termitecontrol is to break the connection between wood and soil.This is done by laying down a chemical barrier to eliminateall possible points of entry. In view of the rather elaborateequipment required and the complicated nature of theprocess, it is strongly suggested that the homeownerconsult a professional pest control service. Publication E-2 provides guidelines on selecting a termite control ser-vice.Property owners need to be aware of termites andthe destruction they can cause. Consumers also need tobe generally knowledgeable of when and where termitecontrol or prevention is needed, and how prevention orcontrol may be accomplished. When buying property,building a home or adding on to an existing structure, ormaking a decision on treating an existing infestation in abuilding, the information that follows should be useful.

PRETREATMENT

Homes and other buildings can be pretreated at thetime of construction to protect them against termite attack.Very few people would consider building a new house andthen not insure it against damage caused by fire or othercalamities. But many more houses are damaged eachyear by termites than by fire.For effective pretreatment termite proofing, much ofthe chemical barrier may need to be under concrete slabs.Obviously, it is much easier to put down a chemical barrierbefore the concrete is poured than it is afterwards.

Household & Public Health

Department of Entomology

E-4

Subterranean Termite

Areas Needing Pretreatment

For effective termite prevention, pretreatment isneeded in four areas during construction:1.Treatment of the entire soil surface to be cov-ered with concrete, including garage floors, en-trance platforms, and filled porches.2.Additional chemical to the soil beneath thoseareas which lie adjacent to foundation walls,beneath interior walls, around sewer and utilityopenings, and at other possible points of entry.3.Treatment of footings and backfill outside foun-dation walls and inside walled areas wherethere is a crawl space. Accessible areas likethese could be treated later, but it is easier to doso at construction time.

Approved Pretreatment Chemicals

Chemical pretreatment is accepted by the FHA as amethod of termite proofing. Most pest control profession-als are equipped to pretreat according to specifications,and they can guarantee effectiveness. Contractors andothers do not provide this guarantee.Table 1 lists insecticides that can be used in pre-treating. These are all restricted to use by professionalapplicators only. They should be used according to labeldirections. These insecticides should provide at least 5years of protection in all but the harshest environments,and some will last considerably longer in protected envi-ronments such as beneath slabs.

Other Pretreatment Measures

Another helpful measure is to make sure that nowood comes in contact with soil and that all woodenfoundation forms, stakes, stumps, and scraps of wood areremoved from any area before it is covered with dirt orconcrete. Also, the soil surface in unexcavated areasshould be cleared of wood scraps.Capping concrete block foundations with a 4-inchsolid block gives added protection, provided the capblocks are joined tightly and there are no openings in themortar.

TREATMENT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS

It is not difficult to identify termites and termitedamage in existing facilities. The only real problem isdistinguishing swarmer termites, which are the first signthat a termite infestation exists, from winged ants, whichare relatively harmless. A swarmer termite is generallyblack, and its four equally-sized cloudy white wings aretwice as long as its rather straight body. The winged ant,although similar in color, has a wasp-like waist and fourclear wings unequal in length and all much shorter than itsbody.

Although they are seldom seen, the white, soft-bodiedworker termites are the ones that can seriously damage astructure. They eat the soft grain of wood, leaving a thinshell outside and only splinters inside.

When and How to Check for Damage

A termite’s natural habitat includes stumps, posts,and other wood that comes in contact with the ground.However, that termites may be found in these materialsnear the home does not necessarily mean the home is orwill be infested.To check for termites, any wood near the foundationor soil should be probed with an ice pick or screw driver,especially the plates, header joists, ends of floor joists,and any hardwood flooring. Presence of earthen “sheltertubes” on foundation walls and wood is also evidence of

Table 1. Insecticides that can be used in termite prevention and control.Insecticide*ChemicalConcentrationTrade NameChemical NameClassTo Use

Tributefenvaleratepyrethroid0.5%Premiseimidaclopridchloronicotinyl0.05%Dragnetpermethrinpyrethroid0.5%Torpedopermethrinpyrethroid0.5%Termidorfipronylphenylpyrazole0.06-0.125%*All of these insecticides are restricted to use by professionals. Label directionsvary from product to product on pretreating, treating, and retreating; ask to see acopy of the label if there are questions on how the job is to be done.

3infestation. Termites build these tubes from bits of soil toclose up breaks in infested wood. The tubes resemblelong streams of mud running up basement walls or alongfoundations. The tubes are generally less t

han 1/4 inch indiameter.

Wider tubes indicate an even more seriousinfestation problem.If damage is found, there is no great hurry to applycontrol measures. Termites work slowly, and a few weeksor even months delay is of little consequence. Thus, thereis plenty of time to select the pest control company and thetermite control program with which you feel most comfort-able. Cost estimates for the work may vary, so obtain andevaluate the bids, descriptions of work to be done, anddetails of any guarantees from at least two companies.Study this information and then make your decision.

Where And How to Treat

The following paragraphs outline some of the gen-eral procedures necessary for adequate control. As notedearlier, label directions for treating termite infested build-ings vary from one insecticide to another. Thus, insecti-cide labels should be referred to for more specific treat-ment directions. See Table 1 for insecticides that can beused to control termites.Soil on both sides of exposed foundation walls andsoil surrounding supports should be soaked down to thefoundation footing at the labelled rate. One techniqueinvolves digging a V-shaped trench against the wall. Itshould be at least 1 foot deep or deeper if necessary toinsure penetration to the footing. Soil at the bottom of thetrench can be loosened with a spade or iron bar to allowfurther penetration.For outside basement walls (where the footing isdeep), most pest control professionals apply the chemicalby injecting it along the foundation through a hollow rodattached at the end of the hose in place of a spray nozzle.This is “rodding.” The result is a continuous chemicalbarrier from footing to surface.

Treating Slab-Constructed Buildings.

Treatment in-volves saturating much of the soil beneath the slab. Thechemical is injected either (1) through holes drilled in theslab at prescribed intervals next to all foundation walls,interior partitions, and utility openings, or (2) by roddingfrom outside the building. Where heat ducts, radiant heatpipes or other special situations exist beneath slabs,modifications or these general treatment procedures maybe necessary.

Treating Concrete Slabs Against Foundations.

Ifconcrete for garage floors, patios, walks, etc., was pouredagainst foundation of the house, the soil under the slabswhich lies next to the foundation must also be treated.

This is done by drilling the slab at prescribed intervals nextto the foundation wall and injecting the chemical underpressure

at the labelled rate.

Treating Dirt-Filled Porches.

Filled porches aretreated one of two ways. (1) The slab can be drilled asdescribed above or the porch foundation drilled at eachend next to the building and the chemical injected byrodding; or (2) the porch can be excavated from each endnext to the building foundation. The area then should betreated with a chemical at the labelled rate.

TERMITE BAITS

An alternative control methodology to soil-appliedtermiticides is the use of termite baits. Termite baits haverecenty gained notoriety with the release of DowAgroScience's

Sentricon Colony Elimination System,

Ensystex's

Exterra,

and FMC Corporation's

Firstline

; othercompanies will soon have termite baits available. Baits areonly available through your local pest control professional.

Baiting

for termites is not a new idea, but is a technol-ogy that has only recently been commercialized. Theprinciple of termite baiting is simple. Termite bait stationsare installed underground around the perimeter of thehouse every 10 to 20 feet and 2 feet out from the house.Collectively, a station is (1) a piece of wood impregnatedwith a slow-acting toxicant contained in (2) a child-proofplastic housing. Stations are installed and then recheckedat monthly intervals thereafter by the pest control profes-sional for termite activity. Baits take advantage of thesocial nature of termites. Foraging termites consume thebait, then share it with their nestmates, resulting in a slowcolony decline and eventual elimination of the termitecolony.From the homeowner's perspective, there are ad-vantages and disadvantages to the use of termite baitscompared to the use of liquid termiticides.

Advantages:

One advantage lies in the fact that theprofessional rarely has to enter the structure to install baitstations. Another advantage is that the toxicant is distrib-uted from a point source, compared to soil-drenching withliquid termiticides; baiting is thus a more environmentally-friendly method of termite control. Also, the use of baitsdoes not require drilling of structural concrete, as is

Termite

StraightAntennaeBroadWaist2nd PairWings Equalin Size

required for the appli-cation of soiltermiticides.

Disadvantages:

The major disadvan-tage in the use of ter-mite baits is the lengthof time it takes to elimi-nate a colony. With liq-uid termiticides, controlis immediate; withbaits, control may takefrom several months toa year, depending onseveral to many envi-ronmental factors thatlimit termite foraging.