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20 October 2021 Queen Egg Laying and Egg Hatching Abilities are Hindered in Subterranean Termite Colonies When Exposed to a Chitin Synthesis Inhibitor Bait Formulation
Thomas Chouvenc, Sang-Bin Lee
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Abstract

Subterranean termite control methods using chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSIs) aim at eliminating colonies that feed upon a bait formulation. Several benzoylurea active ingredient formulations are currently commercially available as alternative termite management strategies to liquid termiticides. Individual workers need to molt on a regular basis and CSIs interfere with such molting process, allowing sufficient time for the acquisition of a colony-wide lethal dose prior to widespread mortality. As workers progressively die, the colony eventually collapses, leaving only soldiers and primary reproductives that starve to death. One common observation is that young workers often die early owing to their relatively short molting cycle. However, the absence of brood in dying colonies raises questions about the potential fate of eggs laid by the queen. This study aims to determine if CSI baits also terminate the ability of a colony to produce a new cohort of workers by disabling the ongoing brood development. Incipient termite colonies were used to test the impact of noviflumuron on the queen's ability to lay eggs and on the eggs' ability to hatch. Our results showed that queens in colonies exposed to CSI not only initially laid less eggs than the control queens, but eggs also did not develop and were progressively cannibalized, eventually leading to colony establishment failure. This result implies that queens of mature colonies exposed to CSI would lose the ability to lay viable eggs as the colony collapses, leading to an absence of worker replacement, aiding in colony elimination.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Thomas Chouvenc and Sang-Bin Lee "Queen Egg Laying and Egg Hatching Abilities are Hindered in Subterranean Termite Colonies When Exposed to a Chitin Synthesis Inhibitor Bait Formulation," Journal of Economic Entomology 114(6), 2466-2472, (20 October 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toab200
Received: 2 August 2021; Accepted: 26 September 2021; Published: 20 October 2021
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KEYWORDS
Coptotermes formosanus
CSI bait
egg
queen
termite control
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