Termite Market Preview

It’s almost time again — time for termites to swarm. And like every other year, there are new products, promotions and information for PCOs who offer termite control to their customers. Here’s an update on several aspects of termite control for 2001. Also, stop by www.pctonline.com/2001termites for more information. In addition, be sure to check out the February issue of PCT — our annual termite issue — for additional termite market coverage.

For now, the mold growing in petri dishes at Maureen Wright’s New Orleans lab is little more than a cottony patch. But termites that have died from contacting this mold have Wright considering its potential as a new bio-pesticide.

Wright, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) microbiologist, is charged with testing bacteria, molds and other microbes that will kill Formosan subterranean termites but spare beneficial insects. Her work is part of "Operation FullStop," a campaign led by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) against the Formosan termite. In New Orleans, where Wright works at ARS’ Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC), Formosan termites cost the city up to $300 million annually.

On Mississippi’s Formosan termite-plagued Gulf Coast, ARS and other Operation FullStop scientists are testing several new pest control methods, including a new bait formula containing Metarhizium anisopliae, a fungus that’s approved for use in killing certain native subterranean termites. In ARS lab trials, M. anisopliae killed up to 90 percent of Formosan termites.

But Wright’s cottony mold, growing at SRRC’s Formosan Subterranean Termite Research Unit, is even deadlier. Compared to M. anisopliae and three other fungal species tested, the mold killed 100 percent of termites in less than one week, vs. 50 to 100 percent for the others in one or more weeks.

The scientists’ early observations indicate the termites aren’t repelled by the mold (whose scientific name is being withheld for confidentiality reasons). This lack of repellency could broaden the mold’s potential use in bait products, ARS reports.

Wright and ARS chemist Bill Connick began the tests earlier this year. They’ll develop a cost-effective method for producing the mold as well as various formulations with which to apply it. Wright plans to test other strains of the mold as well.

Aventis Environmental Science has introduced its Pinnacle Program, a marketing support program for pest management professionals who use Termidor and Delta-Gard products.

PCOs who are Termidor partners will have full access to the Termidor Partner Kit, which is part of the Termidor Marketing Support Program. The Termidor Partner Kit includes the following:

• Technical CD-ROM;

• A Marketing Tools CD-ROM with magazine, newspaper and Yellow Pages ads; television and radio commercials; logos; press releases; and a co-op Reimbursement Program;

• Samples of the Termidor Homeowner Brochure and Video plus instructions for ordering the Partner Kit online and a Literature Allowance Program; and

• Access to a dedicated Web site, www.termidorpartners.com, for ongoing training, education, product research and information, and online registering of structures for 5-Year Pledge coverage.

To become a Termidor Partner, visit www.termidoronline.com.

Bayer Corporation recently released the results from a nationwide homeowner survey, The Bayer Premise Termite Poll. The poll consisted of a telephone survey with more than 1,100 homeowners to determine the awareness of termites and the damage the insects cause to homes.

Only 33 percent of respondents to the poll named termites as the cause of the greatest damage to homes. Nearly one-fourth of those surveyed thought that termites were covered by their homeowner’s insurance policy. Less than 13 percent even considered termites a major threat.

Most survey respondents (58 percent) who haven’t had a termite treatment believed their homes were already protected from termites — an assumption that could have costly consequences.

"It was important for Bayer Corporation to conduct this poll in order to best understand the homeowner and what they perceive to be true regarding termites and the damage the pests cause," said Heather Flagg, residential market manager, Bayer Corporation. "This will help us provide programs and materials that assist the PCO when consulting the homeowner."

According to the Bayer Premise survey, 72 percent of homeowners who have had a termite problem in the past consulted a PCO right away. This is a strong sign, Bayer says, since homeowners today have more options than in the past with do-it-yourself pest control products.

"This was an encouraging statistic from the poll," said Flagg. "We want to stress to homeowners that using a professional is key in helping them solve their termite problems."

The poll revealed other geographic and demographic information, such as:

• Homeowners in the South are almost twice as likely as those in the Midwest to identify termites as the leading cause of monetary damage to homes.

• One in three homeowners in the South, where termites are most prevalent, believe their homeowner’s policy covers termite damage.

• Women are 50 percent more likely than men to try and treat termites themselves.

• Forty-one percent of women are concerned about regulatory announcements regarding pesticide use around the home, while only 30 percent of men share the same concern.

FMC Specialty Products Business recently introduced the First Line Termite Defense System, a program designed for the control of termites. "Specialty Products is an integrated solution pro
vider, and the FirstLine Termite Defense System represents our continued commitment to PCOs," said Don Claus, director, U.S. Professional Segments Business.

FirstLine combines several of FMC’s solutions for control of subterranean termites, including:

• FirstLine GT Plus Termite Bait Station, which contains the active ingredient sulfluramid, a slow-acting stomach toxicant that kills all types of subterranean termites, including reproductives.

• The SmartDisc Locator and Monitor.

• Talstar Termiticide/Insecticide, which can be used in or around structures where active termites are present to provide fast control of the infestation.

• SmartBait Tracking Software, designed to help customers diagram and track their termite baiting jobs, schedule appointments and provide quality assurance.

• FirstLine Defender Unit, a triple-chamber housing for termite monitoring and baiting, scheduled to roll out in the first quarter of this year, that minimizes disturbance to termites for better control and allows for longer inspection intervals and reduces labor costs.

• A Guarantee of Support that covers PCOs’ costs to retreat the structure if control of a subterranean termite infestation has not been achieved by FirstLine within two years. PCOs who elect to include a full perimeter barrier treatment with Talstar as part of the FirstLine Termite Defense System may qualify for FMC’s Ultimate Cost Protection Guarantee of Support.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in New Orleans, La., have identified 30 types of commercial lumber that attract or repel Formosan subterranean termites, painting a more complete picture of where this pest species is likely to turn up in processed wood.

In termite-plagued Louisiana, for example, builders could use the information to select lumber — such as Western red cedar or Alaskan yellow cedar — that’s less apt to lure the insect into homes. Knowing which types of hardwood or softwood species Formosan termites prefer could also improve the effectiveness of baits, according to Juan Morales-Ramos and Guadalupe Rojas, entomologists at ARS’ Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans. There, they designed a series of lab experiments in which termite colonies were fed wooden blocks cut from 30 types of lumber. Wood that termites didn’t like include old growth bald cypress; Western red-, Alaskan yellow-, Eastern red-, and Spanish cedar; mahogany; sassafras; and Indian-, Honduras-, and Bolivian rosewood. Eight of the wood samples actually killed termite colonies during three-month forced-feeding trials, probably because of chemicals in the wood, ARS reports.

Wood that topped the pest’s favorites in the studies included birch, red gum, Parana pine, sugar maple, pecan and red oak. Each stimulated more termite feeding than southern yellow pine, a control species the scientists used, and a commonly used lumber tree in the South.

Southern yellow pine has also been used as bait to help monitor termites foraging for food. This new information, along with ongoing field studies with living trees, points to other, more attractive woods that should improve such monitoring to control the pest.

December 1, 2000, marked the first deadline resulting from the agreement announced last June between pesticide manufacturers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on restricting the use of chlorpyrifos, commonly known as Dursban. The agreement stipulated that manufacturers of chlorpyrifos stop production of chlorpyrifos products with the current label for termite treatments on December 1, 2000, and stop the sale of such products after February 1, 2001. Existing stocks of chlorpyrifos products may continue to be used until supplies are depleted. Revised labels, which appear after December 1, have stop use dates on them.

For more information about the agreement, go to www.pctonline.com/chlorpyrifos.