Table Of Content'I".
INFLUENCEOFCONSTRUCTIONCHARACTERISTICSANDHOME
MAINTENANCEPRACTICESONSUBTERRANEANTERMITEINFESTATION
RATESINNORTHEASTERNFLORIDA
By
DINAL.RICHMAN
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTL\LFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2003
Copyright2003
by
DinaL.Richman
.,>.*' /'/r
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thesupportofmylovingfamilythroughoutmygraduateschoolingwas
invaluable.IthankStevenforgoingthroughthisdegreewithmeand1thankRoxannefor
allherhelpintheend.Ialsoexpressdeepappreciationtomyadvisor.Dr.PhilipKoehler,
forseeingmethroughtheprocess.Thethoughtfiilcritiqueofmyworkbymydissertation
committeewasgreatlyappreciated.IalsoappreciatedthesupportofDowAgroSciences
foraportionofmyresearch.
V'i^:.
.
J •"
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii
ABSTRACT vi
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 EFFECTOFELEVATEDSOILpHFROMMASONRYCEMENTON
RESIDUALSOILTERMITICIDEPERFORMANCE 19
3 ASURVEYOFNORTHEASTFLORIDAHOMEOWNERSREGARDING
SUBTERRANEANTERMITEINFESTATIONS 52
4 RESULTSFROMSITEINSPECTIONSOF35SUBTERRANEAN
TERMITEINFESTEDHOMESINST.JOHNSCOUNTY,FLORIDA 109
5 RISKASSESSMENTOFCONSTRUCTIONANDMAINTENANCE
PRACTICESTOPREDICTSUBTERRANEANTERMITE
INFESTATIONS 117
6 SUMMARYANDCONCLUSIONS 131
APPENDIX
A SERIALDILUTIONDERIVATIONS 134
B LABELRATECALCULATION 136
C ANOVATABLEFORAFACTORL\LEXPERIMENTTOEVALUATE
THEEFFECTOFTIMEONCONTROLSOILpH 138
D TAHNRDETEI-MWEAOYNATNHOEVMAOORFTATLHIETEYFFOEFCTTESROMFITCEOSNCCEONNTFRIANTEIDOONN,PSHO,IL
TREATEDWITHTERMITICIDES 139
E MORTALITIESOFReticutitermesflavipesCONFINEDONSOILOF
DTEIRFMFIETRIECNITDEPSH,LAENVDELASG(E6,D7,EI8TaHndER9),5TORREA10TMEODNWTIHTSH 142
F ANOVATABLEFORAFACTORIALEXPERIMENTTOEVALUATE
THEEFFECTOFEITHERSOILTERMITICIDECONCENTRATIONON
TERMITEMORTALITYORSOILpHONSPECIFICCONCENTRATIONS
OFSOILTERMITICIDESASINDICATEDBYTERMITEMORTALITY .152
G COVERLETTERINCLUDEDWITHSURVEYMAILEDTO
HOMEOWNERS 156
H CHEMICALSUSEDFORPRECONSTRUCTIONTREATMENTSIN
NORTHEASTFLORIDA 158
REFERENCES 160
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 180
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSciiool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
INFLUENCEOFCONSTRUCTIONCHARACTERISTICSANDHOME
MAINTENANCEPRACTICESONSUBTERRANEANTERMITEINFESTATION
RATESINNORTHEASTERNFLORIDA
By
DinaL.Richman
August2003
Chairperson:PhilipG.Koehler
MajorDepartment:DepartmentofEntomologyandNematology
Thisresearchdeterminedtheeffectsofconstructionpracticesandhome
maintenanceonsubterraneantermiteinfestationsintwophases.Thefirstphase
investigatedtheeffectofcementcontaminationonresidualperformanceoftermiticidesin
thelaboratory.Thesecondphaseexaminedtheinfluenceofhomebuildingand
maintenancepracticesoninfestationratesofhousesinthreenortheasternFlorida
counties.
First,alaboratorybioassaywithReticulitermesflavipes(KoUar)wasconducted5
daysaftersoilwasmixedwithportlandcementtoalterpHlevelsto6,7,8,and9.
TermiteswereconfinedtosoiltreatedwithlOx,Ix,O.lx,orO.Olxthemanufacturer's
suggestedapplicationratesforimidacloprid,fipronil,chlorpyrifos,bifenthrin,permethrin,
orcypermethrin.Resultsofadditionalbioassaysat5and10monthsindicatedthat
alkalinesoilpHsignificantlydecreasedresidualefficacyofimidaclopridandfipronilat
O.lxlabelrates,andchlorpyrifos,bifenthrin,andpemiethrinatO.Olxthelabelrates.
CypermethrinwasnotaffectedbysoilpH.
Second,homeownerresponsestoamailedsurveyallowedclassificationof
single-familyhousesbuiltbetween1994and1998inJacksonvilleBeach,St.Johns
County,andFlaglerCountyaccordingtotheirsubterraneantermiteinfestationhistory,
constructiontype,andmaintenancecharacteristics.Pestcontrolcompaniesandcounty
recordsprovidedpreconstructionsoilchemicaltreatmentinformation.Infestationrates
were17.60%fromJacksonvilleBeach,15.85%fromSt.JohnsCounty,and2.70%from
FlaglerCounty.Subterraneantermiteinfestationswerestronglyassociatedwitholder
houseswithwoodframes.Conditionallogisticregressionofcovariatesshowed
relationshipsamongfactorsknowntobeconducivetosubterraneantermiteinfestationsin
orderoftheirinfluenceoninfestationlikelihoodwerepoliticalboundary>occurrenceof
structuralwood>repellentpreconstructiontermiticidetreatment>termiteaccessto
structureviaforagingguideUnesandlackoffoundationperimeterinspectionspace.
IalsoevaluatedtheeffectoftheSt.JohnsCountyBuildingCodeoninfestation
ratesofhousesbuiltafteradditionofaTermiteProtectionOrdinance.The1996
Ordinancewasenactedinordertodecreasesubterraneantermiteinfestationrates.Poor
implementationoftheOrdinancemadeitimpossibletofullyevaluateitsimpact.
INCTHRAOPDTUCETRI1ON
Termitesdecomposeorganicmatter(Collins1989,Donovanetal.2001)andhelp
maintainnitrogenandcarboncycles(Walleretal.1989,Tayasuetal.1997),andare
thoughttobeakeycontributortosoilheterogeneity(Donovanetal.2001).Their
diversityisinfluencedbyhabitat,withthehighestnumberofspeciesfoundinwet
lowlandtropicalforests(Eggleton2000).Southernlatitudeshavemoretermitespecies
andendemismthantheirnortherncounterparts(Eggleton1994).Eggleton(2000)
hypothesizedthatthistrendisduetoprotectionofsouthernregionsfromtheeffectsof
glaciation.HealsosuggestedthatIsopteraoriginatedintheCretaceousPeriod(Mesozoic
Era,-144mya)onPangea,andthatthesubsequentevolutionofgroupswasdueto
continentalseparations(Eggleton2000).
WithinNorthAmerica,themostspecioseregionsareFlorida,northernMexico
andthesouthwesternUnitedStates(Weesner1965).Termitesinhabitingtheseareas
includegeneraderivedfromCentralandSouthAmericas.AccordingtoThomeetal.
(1993),theonlyNorthAmericanendemicisZootermopsisEmerson.However,
Reticutitermeshasthewidestoveralldistributionintheregion(Weesner1965).
WithintheUnitedStates,thegenusReticulitermesincludessixspeciesof
economicimpact(SuandScheffrahn1990a).ReticulitermesarenincolaGoellnercanbe
foundfromtheMidwesternthroughtheNortheasternU.S.andisconsideredtobeof
smalleconomicimpactcomparedtootherspecies(EdwardsandMill1986).
2
ReticulitermeshesperusBanksrepresentsthemajortermitepestinthewesternUnited
States(Kofoid1934,Snyder1954,Weesner1965,EdwardsandMill1986).
ReticulitermestibialisBanksandR.hageniBanks,bothfoundinthemidwestemthrough
easternUnitedStates,arealsoknowntocausestructuraldamagebutarereportedless
frequently(Kofoid1934,EdwardsandMill1986,SuandScheffrahn1990a).BothR.
flavipes(Kollar)andR.virginicusBanksarefoundinmostoftheU.S.,exceptthe
northwesternstates(SuandScheffrahn1990a).
Reticulitermesflavipesisprobablythemosteconomicallyimportanttermiteinthe
southeasternstates(SuandScheffrahn1990a).TheeconomicimpactofR.virginicus,
however,isunknown.Reticulitermesvirginicusinfestationsweremisidentifiedasthose
oiR.flavipesbecauseofmorphologicalsimilaritiesbetweenthetwospecies(Suand
Scheffrahn1990a).Incooperationwithpestmanagementprofessionals,dataarebeing
collectedtoverifytheeconomicimpactofR.virginicus.ReportsofR.virginicus
infestationsareincreasinginnumber,especiallyinFlorida(SuandScheffrahn1990a),
suggestingR.virginicusmaybeassignificantapestasR.flavipes.
BiologyofJ?.flavipesandR.virginicus
ThenewReticulitermescolonyisfoundedbytheroyalpairaftertheirnuptial
flight,inwhichthefertileprimaryreproductives(alates)leavetheircolonyseekingto
establishnewcolonies.InFlorida,theeasternsubterraneantermite(R.flavipes)swarms
JanuarytoApril,whilethedarksouthemsubterraneantermite(R.virginicus)swarms
MarchtoMay(ScheffrahnandSu1994).Theybothswarmduringmiddayinsunshine,
andmayalsoswarmduringfallmonths(ScheffrahnandSu1994).
3
Thenumberofindividualswithinthetermitecolonyvaries(Thomeetal.1997).
Underlaboratoryconditionsandwithouttheintrusionofperiodicsamplingby
researchers,themeansizeof2-yearoldR.Jlavipescoloniesbredfromroyalpairswas
387±226andrangedfrom51to984individuals,excludingeggs(Thomeetal.1997).
Directexcavationofcolonieshasledtopopulationestimatesof51,505to363,512
(Howardetal.1982).Usingmark-release-recapturetechniquestotalReticulitermes
colonypopulationshavebeenestimatedat25,000to5million(Esenther1980a,Graceet
al.1989,Grace1990,Suetal.1993a).
PrimaryReticulitermesreproductivesarerarelyfoundinthefield,andfecundity
ofthefoundingfemaledecreasesovertime(Thomeetal.1999).Brachypterousand
apterousneotenic(secondandthirdforms,respectively)reproductivesaremore
frequentlyencounteredthanprimaryreproductivesinthefield(Snyder1954).Both
supplementaltypescontributetothetotaleggproductionwithinthecolony(Pickens
1934,Snyder1954,Buchli1958,PawsonandGold1996,Thome1996).Neotenic
reproductives(alsoreferredtoas"supplementalreproductives")candifferentiatewithin
theircolonywhiletheroyalpairisstillaliveandreproducing(Snyder1920,Noirot1989).
Individualfemaleneotenicreproductivesarelessfecundthanalate-derivedqueens
(Snyder1920).However,hundredsofthesesupplementalreproductivesmayoccurwithin
thecolony,sotheircumulativeeggcontributioncanexceedthatoftheprimaryqueen
(HowardandHaverty1980,MylesandNutting1988,Thome1996).
Reticulitermescolonyformationmayalsooccurthroughbudding,although
buddingdoesnotalwaysproducenewcolonies(Thomeetal.1999).Thome(1999)
definedbuddingasoccurringwhensatellitecolonyunitsformasaggregatesofnestmate
