Management of Drywood Termites: Past Practices, Present Situation and Future Prospects - Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - page 134

X-ray machines (Lewis, 2009a). All have
been tested to varying degrees and have
been reported to have some usefulness for
easy-to-reach infestations that are exposed;
however, there are limitations to each
technique/device and more fi eld tests are
needed (Lewis, 2009a; Lewis et al ., 2009)
(Table 9.1). Most recently, in a laboratory
study, the voided pellets from I. minor have
been shown to contain hydrocarbons that
can be aged to predict the status (active or
inactive, alive or dead) of an infestation
(Lewis et al. , 2010). Regrettably, none of the
above listed detection/inspection aids are
considered standard equipment by the pest
management industry and there is still a
need for a detection aid/device for infest-
ations hidden behind walls and in hard-to-
reach locations.

Australia revealed indigenous Aborigines
had knowledge of termites and used their
feeding damage in the production of didgeri-
doos, a musical instrument (McMahon,
2004). By the 1700s Linnaeus and other
biologists gave names to these insects that
acknowledged their damage to wood;
Termes (woodworm) and Termes destructor
(destroyer of wood) (Krishna et al. , 2013 [p.
15]). By the early 19th century the fi rst
published reports on the destructive power
of termites appeared (Kollar, 1837; Hagen,
1876). Banks and Snyder (1920) were the
fi rst to include drywood termites in their
listing of termites native to North America,
and a committee was formed to review the
'termite problem' and evaluate control
methods in California that included dry-
wood termites (Kofoid, 1930; Light et al. ,
1930; Steilberg, 1934; Hunt, 1949). This
committee was later expanded to include a
global review of termites and their manage-
ment that included eight chapters with over
160 pages that were devoted to the biology
and control of drywood termites (Kofoid,
1934). The fi rst record of pest management
fi rms offering services for drywood termite
control were in southern California in 1905

Control

Historical review

There are no exact dates for when humans
fi rst recognized termites, but archaeological
evidence and cave drawings from northern

Table 9.1. List of techniques used to detect the presence of drywood termites in structures and the
advantages and disadvantages of each technique.
Technique

Advantage Disadvantage

Visible search Low equipment costs Needs training/experience

Can be invasive a

Microwave motion
detector

Non-invasive a Limits on penetration of surface

covering or type of wood

Canine detection High sensitivity

Can quickly cover a large area
of building
Non-invasive a

High cost and heavy maintenance
Cannot be calibrated

Infrared camera Can quickly cover a large area

of building
Non-invasive a

Diffi cult to establish temperature
gradient with galleries over 10 mm
deep into the wood

X-ray High sensitivity

Non-invasive a

Limited availability, expensive, hard to
interpret images, considerable
training needed

Non-invasive a

Acoustic detection Still limited in availability and use,

restricted to portions of board at one
time, seasonal variations in drywood
termite feeding

a Invasive is defi ned as removing interior/exterior wall coverings and/or destructive to same or other structural lumber.
Non-invasive is defi ned as the opposite of invasive.