Termites are a type of social insects, and their harm involves many aspects of human production and life. To control their harm, most people use spraying drugs to prevent their invasion or reduce their population. Long-term and large-scale spraying of drugs can easily pollute the environment and affect human health. People hope to use safer and more environmentally friendly methods to control termites, and the use of baits to control termites is a manifestation of this termite control concept. In the past, people mainly used baits with mirex as the active ingredient to control termites. Since mirex is a persistent organic pollutant, it has been banned for termite control in various countries around the world. In order to find a termite control bait product to replace mirex, termite control researchers have been testing the effects of different agents on termite control in the past few decades. A large number of research results show that benzoylurea insecticides as the active ingredient of termite baits have a good control effect on termites.
1. Types of Benzoylurea Insecticides
Since the early 1970s, when the Dutch company Philips-Duphar discovered that benzoylurea compounds could inhibit the synthesis and deposition of chitin in insect larvae, more than a dozen benzoylurea insecticides have been introduced to the market. These include diflubenzuron, chlorfluazuron, flufenoxuron, teflubenzuron, hexaflumuron, lufenuron, flumuron, triflumuron, triflumuron oxime, diflufenoxuron, bistriflumuron, bistrifluoruron, and polyfluoruron, among others. These insecticides have played a significant role in pest control.
2. The action characteristics of benzoylurea insecticides
The mechanism of action of benzoylurea insecticides is to inhibit the activity of chitin synthase in insect cuticles and the activation rate of uridine coenzyme, and inhibit the binding of N-acetylglucosamine in chitin. It works through stomach poison, which hinders the formation of new cuticles of insects, delays development, or lacks hardness, and cannot molt normally, resulting in death or death of deformed pupae. Its insecticidal effect is relatively slow, and it is only lethal to insects that still need to molt and metamorphose. It is very safe for non-crustacean organisms. For termites, benzoylurea insecticides are made into baits, which are spread among individuals in the nest through the feeding and feeding behavior of worker ants. Young ants and young ants in the nest that absorb enough drugs cannot form new cuticles after molting, and then die. Since there are no new worker ants in the nest, when all the worker ants in the nest that are not affected by benzoylurea insecticides die naturally due to expiration of their lifespan, the ant king and queen will also starve to death because there are no worker ants to feed them. In this way, the entire termite nest is completely destroyed.
3.Effect of benzoylurea insecticides on controlling termites
Benzoylurea insecticides have attracted significant attention from termite control professionals worldwide since their commercialization, owing to their non-toxic nature to mammals and humans and minimal environmental pollution. Many researchers have investigated the effectiveness of termite baits containing benzoylurea insecticides as active ingredients in field applications. The results indicate that baits made with benzoylurea insecticides such as hexaflumuron, lufenuron, triflumuron, diflubenzuron, and bistriflumuron are highly effective against termites, including Coptotermes formosanus, C. acinaciformis, C. curvignathus, Coptotermes gestroi, Reticulitermes flavipes, R. hesperus, R. speratus, R. virginicus, Macrotermes gilvus, Odontotermes formosanus, and Globitermes sulphureus. Termite colonies were eradicated within 2 to 70 weeks after bait application.
Laboratory forced-feeding and choice-feeding tests demonstrated that under the tested concentrations, after six weeks, triflumuron baits showed a significantly higher lethality against Coptotermes formosanus compared to lufenuron and polyfluoruron baits. Field trials revealed that among the 122 termite colonies tested, 63% were eradicated within three months after the application of 0.5% polyfluoruron baits, and 77% died after consuming two tubes of bait, indicating excellent efficacy in termite extermination.
Using monitoring-based control techniques in field tests, 0.1% diflubenzuron baits, 0.25% lufenuron baits, and 0.5% hexaflumuron baits were evaluated. The results showed that 0.1% diflubenzuron baits had no significant effect on Coptotermes formosanus and Reticulitermes flavipes colonies, while 0.25% lufenuron baits significantly reduced the population size of termite colonies. However, when 0.1% diflubenzuron baits were applied for over two years followed by treatment with 0.25% lufenuron baits on the same colony, the colony was eradicated within one month. The 0.5% hexaflumuron baits also demonstrated significant inhibitory effects on termite colonies.
Field application of 0.5% or 1% bistriflumuron pellet baits eradicated or sterilized 83% of Nasutitermes exitiosus colonies in Australia within eight weeks, with the remaining colonies showing population decline. Early signs of poisoning in termite colonies included a temperature drop within three weeks of bait application and a significant reduction in foraging activity by the fourth week. The time required to eradicate Nasutitermes exitiosus colonies with the tested baits was approximately half that of other similar baits.
When 1% bistriflumuron baits were used against Globitermes sulphureus, two months later, termite bodies turned pale white with parasitic mites on their surface, and the soldier termite ratio significantly increased. The nest walls began to peel, and the colony was completely eradicated within four months. Before death, each termite colony consumed an average of (84.1 ± 16.4) g of bait, with 143 mg of bistriflumuron sufficient to kill a single Globitermes sulphureus colony.
Histological observations during molting revealed that under the influence of polyfluoruron, worker termites of Coptotermes formosanus were unable to form new exoskeletons after molting. As a result, the workers died due to the loss of hemolymph during the writhing process.
4 Prospects of benzoylurea insecticides for termite control
Developing new safe and environmentally friendly termite killers has become a future trend. Termite control agents are also developing in a more efficient and safer direction. Benzoylurea insecticides have the advantages of being safe for humans and animals, harmless to natural enemies, highly selective and environmentally friendly, and will undoubtedly become the focus of future research and development.
At the end of the article, we recommend you use Pestman hexaflumuron termite bait. Pestman hexaflumuron termite bait mixed with termite attractant and termiticide. Lured by the bait, termites feed on the Pestman termite bait and take it back to the colony. Then they will feed the bait to other termites. Eventually the entire colony termites will be eliminated. The main active ingredient hexaflumuron is a chitin synthesis inhibitor. A key component of a termite’s exoskeleton is the substance chitin. Without chitin termites cannot complete their natural moulting process. If they do not moult they die. Through our excellent technology,m the concentration of hexaflumuron has reached 10%, which is the highest concentration among similar products on the global market and 20 times that of other brands, which means that you can achieve the effect of killing entire colony by using less dosage.
Product Description:
-Active ingredient: 10% hexaflumuron.
-Powerful killing effect – Kill the queen termite, eliminate the colony completely.
-Low treatment costs – Only need 150 grams per treatment.
-Used directly or with indoor bait stations and underground bait stations.
-No toxicity to non-target animals – Safe to humans, pets and environment.
-Works on all termites – Such as: Coptotermes, Reticulitermes, Odontotermes, Macrotermes, etc.
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