Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-121). Also available via the Internet.

Orientador: Ana Maria Costa Leonardo / Banca: Sulene Noriko Shima / Banca: José Eduardo Marcondes de Almeida / Resumo: A espécie exótica de cupim Coptotermes gestroi (Família Rhinotermitidae) é considerada uma das pragas urbanas economicamente mais importantes no Brasil. O seu hábito críptico limita os estudos sobre sua biologia e comportamento, o que dificulta um controle realmente efetivo. Uma forma de controle biorracional é a tecnologia de iscas, já que leva em consideração o comportamento social desses insetos, além de preservar o meio ambiente. Seu princípio é a transmissão de agentes químicos ou biológicos diretamente para os cupins, visando atingir toda a colônia. A isca é composta por ingredientes ativos incorporados a substratos que contenham celulose. Para que o controle seja mais eficiente, esses substratos devem ser atrativos aos cupins, estimulando o recrutamento e a atividade de alimentação dos indivíduos. Em vista do exposto, a presente pesquisa propôs, por meio de testes laboratoriais e de campo, selecionar substratos celulósicos mais atrativos e adequados à incorporação de ingredientes ativos. Inicialmente foram testados 12 tipos de substratos, e a partir desses, selecionados 4 que foram utilizados nos bioensaios posteriores. O período de duração dos testes laboratoriais foi de 28 dias. Já para os testes de campo foram executados 8 ciclos experimentais, sendo que cada ciclo durou 7 dias. Todos os resultados foram analisados estatisticamente, com nível de significância (á) igual a 0,05. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que os substratos mais atrativos para C. gestroi foram papelão corrugado e colmo de milho. Tais fontes celulósicas...(Resumo completo clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The exotic species of termite Coptotermes gestroi (Family Rhinotermitidae) is considered one of the most important urban pests in Brazil. Its cryptic habit limits the studies about its biology and behavior, what difficult an effective control. A way to perform biorrational control of termites is the bait technology, since it considers the social behavior of these insects beyond preserving the environment. Its principle is the transmission of chemical or biological agents straightly for the termites, aiming to reach the whole colony. The bait is composed by active ingredients incorporated to substrates that contain cellulose. In order to improve the efficiency of the bait control, these substrates must be attractive to the termites, stimulating the recruitment and the feeding activity of the individuals. Based on the presented background, this research proposed, by means of laboratory and field tests, to select cellulosic substrates more attractive and suitable to adding the active ingredients. Initially, twelve types of substrates were tested, and four of them were selected, which had been used in the posterior bioassays. The laboratory tests were processed along 28 days, while the field tests demanded eight experimental cycles, each of them during 7 days. All the results were statistically analyzed, at a significance level (á) of 0.05. The results showed that the most attractive substrates for C. gestroi were corrugated cardboard and corn stem. Such cellulosic sources were clearly more consumed than the other materials; in addition they had recruited a large number of individuals to the baits. Some Abstract 4 factors must be considered in the matrix choice, such as their manipulation and viability to termiticid impregnation, aiming to the contribution for the development of more efficient baits in the termite control. / Mestre

A three-part study was conducted to characterize and assess the impact of subterranean termite infestation of urban structures in Tucson, Arizona. A termite control questionnaire was administered to all Tucson-based pest control firms offering termite control services, of which 52 percent responded. Twelve study sites were established in and around the city, with toilet paper rolls serving as termite bait at each site. In addition, 5943 active termite control contracts were accessed from Tucson's largest pest control company, and analyzed with accompanying data from various sources including those pertinent to structure location, construction, treatment history, and surrounding soil types. An estimate of over $3 million for gross annual income derived from commercial termite control services performed in Tucson, was calculated from questionnaire responses. Termide (heptachlor + chlordane) was the most frequently used termiticide. Approximately 45 percent of commercial termite control jobs were performed with Termide, the principal termiticide used by 85.7 percent of companies offering termite control services. Gnathamitermes perplexus (Banks) was most prevalent in the toilet paper rolls at bait sites, followed by Heterotermes aureus (Snyder) and Reticulitermes tibialis Banks. G. perplexus infested bait at sites that resembled the surrounding desert while H. aureus and R. tibialis generally infested those which had been significantly altered by irrigation and landscaping. H. aureus and, to a lesser degree, R. tibialis, are by far the most economically important of the 18 termite species inhabiting Tucson and the surrounding area. Significant interrelationships were found between termite contract density, customer affluence, housing density, structure age, and soil permeability, and also between retreatment rate, foundation type, and materials used in wall construction. The percentage of structures under contract requiring retreatment was estimated to be between 17.3 percent and 42.7 percent per year. Analysis utilizing termite control contracts is suggested as a unique and effective approach providing critical insight into factors influencing termite communities and patterns of infestation in the urban environment.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-11-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:00:39Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_jt_me_rcla.pdf: 5130482 bytes, checksum: 457a7f5bbb943ed3bd6fdd756c357a36 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A espécie exótica de cupim Coptotermes gestroi (Família Rhinotermitidae) é considerada uma das pragas urbanas economicamente mais importantes no Brasil. O seu hábito críptico limita os estudos sobre sua biologia e comportamento, o que dificulta um controle realmente efetivo. Uma forma de controle biorracional é a tecnologia de iscas, já que leva em consideração o comportamento social desses insetos, além de preservar o meio ambiente. Seu princípio é a transmissão de agentes químicos ou biológicos diretamente para os cupins, visando atingir toda a colônia. A isca é composta por ingredientes ativos incorporados a substratos que contenham celulose. Para que o controle seja mais eficiente, esses substratos devem ser atrativos aos cupins, estimulando o recrutamento e a atividade de alimentação dos indivíduos. Em vista do exposto, a presente pesquisa propôs, por meio de testes laboratoriais e de campo, selecionar substratos celulósicos mais atrativos e adequados à incorporação de ingredientes ativos. Inicialmente foram testados 12 tipos de substratos, e a partir desses, selecionados 4 que foram utilizados nos bioensaios posteriores. O período de duração dos testes laboratoriais foi de 28 dias. Já para os testes de campo foram executados 8 ciclos experimentais, sendo que cada ciclo durou 7 dias. Todos os resultados foram analisados estatisticamente, com nível de significância (á) igual a 0,05. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que os substratos mais atrativos para C. gestroi foram papelão corrugado e colmo de milho. Tais fontes celulósicas... / The exotic species of termite Coptotermes gestroi (Family Rhinotermitidae) is considered one of the most important urban pests in Brazil. Its cryptic habit limits the studies about its biology and behavior, what difficult an effective control. A way to perform biorrational control of termites is the bait technology, since it considers the social behavior of these insects beyond preserving the environment. Its principle is the transmission of chemical or biological agents straightly for the termites, aiming to reach the whole colony. The bait is composed by active ingredients incorporated to substrates that contain cellulose. In order to improve the efficiency of the bait control, these substrates must be attractive to the termites, stimulating the recruitment and the feeding activity of the individuals. Based on the presented background, this research proposed, by means of laboratory and field tests, to select cellulosic substrates more attractive and suitable to adding the active ingredients. Initially, twelve types of substrates were tested, and four of them were selected, which had been used in the posterior bioassays. The laboratory tests were processed along 28 days, while the field tests demanded eight experimental cycles, each of them during 7 days. All the results were statistically analyzed, at a significance level (á) of 0.05. The results showed that the most attractive substrates for C. gestroi were corrugated cardboard and corn stem. Such cellulosic sources were clearly more consumed than the other materials; in addition they had recruited a large number of individuals to the baits. Some Abstract 4 factors must be considered in the matrix choice, such as their manipulation and viability to termiticid impregnation, aiming to the contribution for the development of more efficient baits in the termite control.

The development and evaluation of the pest management program involved many different aspects of urban pest control and urban pest management. The program consisted of individual pest management programs for the primary urban pests in prison environments. Each program involved resource manuals, training programs, monitoring methods, decision-making strategies, and methods of recording and reporting pest levels and control strategies. The programs were designed to be administered by a technician using the resource manuals as a basic guideline. A supervisor position was also created as a source of continuous monitoring of the program’s progress. The evaluation of the overall pest management program concentrated on the program’s effectiveness through; its ability to reduce pest levels, its ability to reduce pesticide use, its ability to reduce the relative toxicity of the pesticide applications, its cost-effectiveness, the attitudes of all people directly affected by the program, and the knowledge of the individuals responsible for administering the program. The cockroach and house fly pest management programs were evaluated concerning their ability to effectively reduce pest levels. The cockroach program achieved a 68% reduction over the initial German cockroach populations within the first month. By the fourth month, 95% control was achieved and maintained through the program and the entire evaluation period. The house fly program received an average of 79% reduction from the previous year after one month of operations. The program’s ability to optimize pesticide use and minimize pesticide exposure was demonstrated in a 97% reduction in the actual amount of pesticides used with the pest management program compared to the previous pest control program. In addition to reducing the actual volume of pesticides used, the pest management program also provided a 93 - 99% reduction in relative toxicity compared to the previous program. The relative toxicity of the two programs was determined by factoring the amount of active ingredients applied with the programs and accounting for each pesticide’s toxicity level. The evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the program demonstrated an increase of $0.59 per inmate per year in materials costs. However, the pest management program also resulted in a reduction in the amount of time required to treat each of the three prisons by 60% each month. The reduction of time required to treat the prison facilities accounted for an overall 52% reduction in costs. The analysis of attitudes of the inmates, technicians, supervisors, and administration personnel demonstrated that, overall, all groups of individuals involved with the program preferred the use of the pest management program over the previous program. The general preference of the program resulted in most individuals preferring the program ‘somewhat better’ than the previous program. / Master of Science

Termites continue to be Arizona’s number one urban pest. Factors that influence the persistence of termiticides are constantly under investigation. High pH has been identified as a potential concern for persistence in termiticides. I studied the influence of pH 11 water on five termiticides applied to commercial ABC fill 10 months post-treatment. In general, the addition of pH 11 water had little influence on termiticide persistence under Arizona conditions. Initially plots treated with Ph 11 water had higher residues than those that did not receive the treated water; over time these differences diminished.

Termiticide applications are the standard practice in the pest control industry to protect structures from the invasion of termites. However, information related to termiticide persistence is lacking. In 2 field trials, soil residues analysis were carried out to determine degradation among existing and candidate termiticides in 3 different chemical classes. Plots were established to simulate industry standards for the application of termiticides. Study 1 termiticides tested were Dragnet FT (permethrin, 0.5% and 0.25%;), Prevail FT (cypermethrin, 0.25%;), Biflex FT (bifenthrin, 0.06%;), Fury TC (zeta-cypermethrin, 0.125%;) Premise 75 (imidacloprid, 0.05%,), Dursban TC (chlorpyrifos, 1% and 0.75%) and the untreated check. In Study 2 termiticides tested were DeltaGard SC (deltamethrin 0.075%, 0.125% and 0.25%); Dragnet FT (permethrin 0.5%;)and the untreated checks. In study 1, in general, all termiticides showed more degradation in the exposed plots than those covered by the concrete slab. In the exposed plots, specifically in the 4th year, four of the eight treatments had no residues In comparison, the covered plots had only 1 treatment, with no residues. In general the pyrethroids of permethrin at 0.25% and 0.5% along with bifenthrin at 0.06% held up longer than the organophosphate chlorpyrifos or imidacloprid the chloronicotinyl compound. Study 2, after one year, the exposed plots showed a slightly greater degradation than the covered plots. However, due to plot-to-plot variation no conclusions can be drawn from the data, other than the permethrin plots showed less than 40% remaining in any plot.

The nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a semi-aquatic rodent native to South America that was introduced to the Pacific Northwest, USA, in the 1930s. Primary damage categories from this invasive species include burrowing and herbivory, resulting in habitat degradation. Nutria have become well-established in metropolitan habitats, and anecdotal information suggests the problem has increased in recent years. However, little regional research on the species has been conducted. The scope of this research, which emphasizes metropolitan habitats, includes three primary foci in relation to nutria populations in the Pacific Northwest: modeling habitat suitability, assessing activity and movement patterns, and identifying and managing negative impacts. Large-scale management of any invasive species requires understanding of the current and potential future population distribution. Cold temperatures have been assumed to be a limiting factor for the geographic distribution of nutria populations, but this assumption had not been explicitly tested. A mechanistic habitat suitability model based on winter temperatures performed well in predicting nutria distribution in the Pacific Northwest and nationally. Regional results suggest nutria currently occupy most accessible suitable habitat. However, coupling the model with future climate change data suggests a much larger suitable habitat zone regionally and nationally in the near future. Management of an invasive species on a local scale requires region-specific information about behavior patterns. Radio-telemetry tracking of local nutria populations in metropolitan habitats suggested higher diurnal activity levels than reported elsewhere. Activity areas were also on the lower end of reported nutria home ranges, suggesting the studied metropolitan wetland sites represent core habitat for nutria in the region. Comparison of two transmitter attachment methods, a neck collar and a tail mount, did not identify a clearly superior attachment method for short-term nutria behavior studies. The presence of nutria in metropolitan habitats in the Pacific Northwest necessitates the need to expand the limited management techniques available for these habitats. Standard Vexar® plastic mesh tubes very effectively mitigated nutria herbivory damage to woody vegetation live stakes planted in a metropolitan habitat restoration site. A recently developed nutria multiple-capture cage trap captured larger nutria and reduced non-target captures compared to a standard cage trap. The design of the multiple-capture trap, however, prevented multiple-capture events because small nutria escaped the trap. This research contributes substantially to previously limited information about nutria in the Pacific Northwest and resulted in several new findings. Climate change modeling provides the first evidence that nutria ranges could expand in the near future. Evaluation of new radio-telemetry methods will benefit future behavior studies. The assessment of new damage prevention tools provides more options for the management of nutria in urban habitats. Management recommendations include creating regional nutria management plans, identifying and targeting priority monitoring regions, finding key stakeholders, focusing on public education, and initiating a pilot control program. Recommendations for research include evaluating effects on native fauna, conducting disease surveys, assessing the extent of damage, continuing habitat suitability analysis, and developing population indices.